#putting together my syllabus for the fall and got curious

[cpericardium]

You're teaching a college-level introductory literature course with a syllabus of 3 books. What's the focus/theme of the course and what books are you assigning? They can be fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, poetry, anything.

[everybodyscupoftea]

the art of making a move at a kegger

jj x reader

word count: 2877

warnings: drinking, cursing, and towards the end almost sexual content but not actually

synopsis: harboring feelings for jj + getting drunk doesn’t always equal the smoothest of times but it all works out in the end

requested by @maybebanks​ really hope you like it!

JJ wasn’t on your radar until he slept through three quizzes in a row during your 8:00 a.m. English freshman year. He sat across from you, and you thought he was pretty cute, even when he started showing up wearing Pike letters. Which coincidentally is when he started falling asleep during quizzes.

One morning, when the professor left the room and you were packing your backpack, you heard JJ clear his throat. You glanced up, unsure if it was for you or not, and caught him smiling at you sheepishly.

“Hey,” he mumbled, running a hand through his unruly hair, “I was wondering if you had the readings for Thursday, I lost the syllabus.”

You pulled out your planner, “Yeah, it’s Act 3 of Hamlet and a part from the textbook on dramatic irony, pages 176-179.”

He quickly jotted it down on the corner of his notebook and smiled tiredly at you, “Thanks so much, I can’t keep failing these fucking quizzes, my grade is cheeks right now.”

“Is everything okay?” you cautiously asked, you didn’t want to push but you were a little concerned about the cute boy.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair again, “Hazing shit, they’re making the new pledges stay up. I haven’t slept a full night in two weeks.”

“That’s, uh,” you weren’t really sure what to say, “not okay?” You settled on.

With a shrug, he tugged his backpack up and pushed in his chair, “Yeah, well, I guess it comes with being a legacy.” And then he was gone.

After that first interaction, you and JJ chatted every so often. Sometimes you’d let him cheat off your quizzes because they were pointless anyway and sometimes, you’d ask your professor to repeat one of the questions so he could get a second chance to answer if he was running late.

The last day of the semester he brought you coffee, “I just wanted to thank you for everything this semester, and I was hoping I could get your number so we can keep in touch.”

The next semester you had two classes together, much to your shock. When the two of you started to hang out outside of class to study for statistics, you learned some stuff about him. He was from the Outer Banks and he had a rough childhood. He was also receiving the Pell Grant so school was totally paid for, his only expense was the frat.

You also learned that the two of you were the same major and had to take all of the same courses, so the two of you decided to try and register for some of the same classes. It didn’t always work out, you had priority scheduling as a note taker for at least one class every semester and sometimes when JJ went to schedule, your section was already full. But sometimes it did work out.

Either way, the two of you always studied together. You used to go back and forth between apartments, one week was yours and one was JJ’s, until he moved into the frat house and no work was meant to be done in those walls. That atmosphere was conducive to parties only, something else JJ loved.

One afternoon, fall of your sophomore year, JJ balled up a piece of paper and threw it at you. It bounced off your forehead landed in your open coffee cup, and you looked up and glared at him, “Was that necessary?”

He gave you an innocent look, “Do you have plans next weekend?”

“I mean, we have a test the next Monday so I’ll probably be studying.”

JJ took the last sip of his coffee, “I have a formal and I need a date, wanna go?”

“Not particularly,” you responded with a shrug.

“No strings attached,” JJ told you, “promise. My friend from home, Kie, normally comes with me, but she has her own shit to do, and me and you get along. If you don’t go, I’ll have to take a stranger and then I’ll be bored.”

You’d been to some of the parties his frat threw, you knew he wouldn’t really be bored all night, he just didn’t want to have to actually work to get a date. Not that he’d have to work hard, his good looks would pretty much guarantee him a date. But you were a little intrigued, so you agreed.

“Great,” he told you, clapping his hands, “let me know what color your dress is and I’ll get a matching tie.”

“Fancy,” you told him with a smile.

“Kie loves matching, she’ll be proud,” JJ responded, and it made you really curious about Kie and the rest of his friends, but you didn’t ask.

Eventually you would get to meet them. JJ invited you to go home with him for spring break and he showed you around the Outer Banks, took you surfing, and threw a party that almost rivaled the ones his frat normally threw. Meeting his friends was nice, but really getting to know JJ was nicer. That’s when you started to complicate the ‘no strings attached’ deal, you felt yourself catching feelings.

By the time senior year rolled around, you were the most tired you’ve ever been. School was hard, having a job while doing school was harder and your social life was suffering. You still hung out with JJ a lot, mostly to study or to unwind and just watch TV, but he was really the only person you spent time with on a regular basis other than your coworkers.

Late on a Saturday afternoon, you were already in your pajamas, studying for an anatomy test, when there was a knock at your apartment door. Startled, you wrapped the blanket you were sitting under tightly around your shoulders and cautiously walked to the door. Peering through the peephole, you saw JJ standing there, looking at something on his phone.

You threw the door open, “What are you doing here?”

He looked up and smiled, “I’m here to kidnap you.”

“What?” you asked blankly, not really in the mood.

JJ pushed his way past you and sat on a barstool before answering, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how miserable you’ve been lately. When’s the last time you went out?”

And, God, when was the last time you’d done something fun? You sighed, “Fuck, I don’t know, like maybe a month ago when we went to that basketball game.”

With a hum, JJ stood up, “Get dressed, Pike’s throwing a kegger tonight.”

You didn’t even think twice before tossing the blanket onto the couch and going to your closet to find something to wear. JJ turned the TV on while you got fully dressed, minus makeup. Peeking your head out, you caught JJ’s attention, “Can I do my makeup at the house?”

He nodded, “Yeah. You almost ready because I’ve gotta pick up the keg soon?”

“Let’s go.”

JJ locked the door behind you and the two of you walked to his truck. The music blasted as soon as he cranked it up and he turned it down with a sheepish smile, “My bad, the song playing when I got here was a banger.”

Plugging your phone in, you put on the collaborative playlist you and JJ made together. He turned it back up a little and peeled out of the parking lot to the nearest liquor store where his frat normally got their kegs.

You bought cups at the convenience store next door while JJ loaded the keg into his truck, and a few pods because you were low and JJ was almost always out. JJ was leaning against the truck when you met him back in the shared parking lot, and he handed you a Twisted Tea, “For accompanying me on this adventure, madam.”

“Thank you, kind sir,” you responded, cracking it open and took a deep sip before climbing back into the truck to head to the frat house.

JJ left you to finish getting ready while he helped everyone set up for the party. You joined him eventually, having finished your first drink, and helped lock all bedroom doors and put all valuables away.

By the time people started arriving you were happily tipsy, hanging onto JJ while he talked to some of his friends, sipping beer slowly out of your assigned cup at the house. You were over there enough that you’d claimed one of your own and all the other guys that lived there respected it for the most part.

The party started to pick up and one of JJ’s frat brothers called you over to attempt a keg stand. You’d always wanted to try but never had, so you handed JJ your cup and kicked your feet up, trusting the two guys were ready to catch you. They did and someone put the spout into your mouth.

A crowd gathered around you and started counting loudly. You made it all the way to a minute before kicking to be let down. Slowly the two guys lowered your feet and your vision swam while beer bubbled in your throat. You almost choked but managed to swallow while everyone cheered around you. JJ wrapped an arm around your shoulder, “Not bad for a first time!”

He topped your cup off and guided you away. You cleared your throat, “Thought I was gonna puke for a second there.”

“You turned a little green when you first came down, how you feeling now though?”

“Feeling fantastic,” you told him earnestly, swaying in place.

JJ chuckled, grabbing your shoulders, “You got plans tomorrow?”

“Anatomy.”

“So that’s a no, I won’t cut you off then.”

“Don’t cut me off, please,” you told him seriously, trying to focus on his face.

He gave you a little two finger salute, “Aye aye madam.”

You lost track of how many drinks you had as the night went on. Sometime during the night, JJ disappeared and came back with something besides beer for you which was really nice and you thanked him with a kiss on the cheek. He just laughed and squeezed your shoulder before going off to talk to someone else.

When the party started winding down, you attempted to find the Uber app on your phone to call a ride home. JJ tapped your shoulder, startling you, and in your clumsy, intoxicated state, you dropped your phone. It slid out of your eyesight and you glared at him, “Pick it up, J.”

“What are you doing?” he asked, amused.

“Goin home, party’s over.”

“Why don’t you just stay here?”

“Can’t make it up the stairs,” you told him seriously.

JJ raised his eyebrows, “You live on the second floor of your apartment building, at least here you have me to help you up the stairs.”

He had you there. So, you nodded and he took you to the kitchen for a clean cup. JJ filled it with water and made you drink two before leading you to the stairs. You lifted your foot to put it on the first step and almost fell over. JJ reached out but you shushed him, as if his silence would help you focus more on not falling over.

On the second try, you managed to climb up one step and immediately shuffled close to the wall so you could lean your whole body against it for balance while attempting to climb. It was a really slow process, but you were too stubborn to ask for help, and JJ knew better than to try to help you when you were feeling stubborn.

JJ stayed one step below you to help in case you started to fall backwards. Eventually you made it all the way up and immediately forgot which door led to his room. Huffing a laugh, JJ grabbed your wrist and led you to the second one on the left.

You sat down on the bed and went pretty much boneless at the comfort of finally not being on your feet.

“Fucks sake, dude,” JJ muttered, pushing you up into a sitting position.

“No,” you whined, fighting to lay back down.

It wasn’t hard for JJ to keep you sitting up, “You’re going to be so pissed if you wake up in your clothes with makeup on, you need to change and get ready for bed.”

He was right again, but you didn’t have the comprehension level to remember how to do that so you shrugged in response. JJ sighed and helped you kick your shoes off before going to get you a change of clothes from his drawers. You somehow managed to get your shirt off and your shorts unbuttoned, but he had to help you get the new shirt on and change shorts.

The guy JJ shared a bathroom with’s girlfriend left makeup wipes and JJ helped you get all your makeup off. You kept making faces to be difficult because you liked the furrow between his eyebrows as he tried to focus on being gentle.

“I will intentionally poke you in the eyeball if you do not stop,” he warned.

Pouting, you poked his cheek, “Don’t bully me, I’m drunk.”

He threw the wipe away and looked at you exasperatedly, “Brush your teeth, your breath smells like a liquor store.”

Giggling, you grabbed your spare toothbrush from the drawer next to his and sloppily started brushing your teeth. JJ was standing behind you and leaning on you, trapping you between the counter and his body so you didn’t fall over or sway.

The bright bathroom lights plus the water were clearing your brain a little, but you were still gone and not really able to focus on anything for more than a few seconds at a time. You leaned back to feel his chest moving as he brushed his teeth and giggled at the feeling.

JJ sighed again and gently nudged you out of the way to spit and rinse in the sink and you followed suit, having forgotten to do so yourself. You followed him out of the bathroom and grabbed his hand as he led you back to his room.

From what you could remember, JJ slept on the left, so you climbed into the right side of his bed and stretched out comfortably. He crawled in behind you a few minutes later, and you turned around to look at him. He had a small smile on his face as he looked back at you and reached up to push a piece of hair that had fallen in your eyes out of the way.

Suddenly, you were overcome by the urge that you’d been fighting for over a year and you leaned forward to kiss him. He froze and you almost regretted it until he started kissing you back.

You stayed like that for what felt like hours but could’ve only been minutes until he rolled the two of you over so you were on your back and he was hovering over you. Your lips were only separated for a few seconds before he was kissing you again, more deeply than before.

Sighing into the kiss, you brought a hand up to his head and ran your fingers through his hair. He groaned lightly at the feeling and you felt a hand creeping up your thigh. Before it could get too far, you nudged his shoulders back to catch your breath. He kept stroking your thigh and you shifted, “Hey, can we wait maybe?”

“Wait for what?” JJ asked you, confused.

“To fuck,” you told him bluntly.

JJ huffed out a surprised laugh, “Oh, uh, yeah definitely.”

You grinned at him sheepishly, “Sorry, you’re my best friend and if we’re going to do this, I want to be sober and you know, really ready.”

“Right, yeah, I totally get it,” he reassured you, dropping back down next to you.

You sighed as he wrapped his arm around you again. Lifting your head, you let it rest on one of his biceps and drank in his facial features. He held onto one of your hands and played with your fingers, not looking at you directly.

“I’m sorry,” you told him, feeling a little uncertain.

JJ looked at you, furrow back between his eyebrows but a little different than before, “I’m the one who should be saying sorry.”

“What?” you asked, feeling the urge to press the wrinkle until it went away.

“For forcing myself onto you,” JJ mumbled.

Suddenly it felt like you couldn’t keep up with the conversation, “Wait what?”

He wouldn’t meet your eyes again, so you lifted his chin until the two of you were almost nose to nose. JJ shut his eyes, “You’re really drunk, I shouldn’t have ever returned the kiss because you might regret it in the morning.”

“No, I really do like you JJ, I just,” you paused, trying to find the right words, “I just want it to be special, I guess,” you trailed off, hoping it made sense.

JJ smiled gently and pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, “We can talk about it tomorrow, yeah?”

With a giant yawn, you nodded and the last thing you remember is him running a hand through your hair and tangling your legs together.

[spaceskam]

Inspired by @aewriting's fic because oh my goddddd

ao3

Michael knew a lot of things. He was smart and aware and was sufficiently sure that his species better than the entirety of the human race so there was no point in giving a shit.

Yet, for the life of him, he couldn't stop grinning as he looked at the assigned rooming system for their class trip.

 Michael," Max hissed as he leaned over, his own copy of the syllabus and rooming system in his hand, "We need to request to room together instead."

"What, why?" Michael said, struggling to tear his eyes off the 4D - Michael Guerin, Alex Manes written on his paper. The idea of watching him get ready in the morning and seeing how long it took him to put on his makeup had Michael squirming for some reason.

"Because," Max said, eyes wide like he should've pieces it together, "What if something happens?"

Michael frowned. "Are you still having issues?"

"Yes!" Max insisted, "So we need to both request room changes."

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to say for why I want a room change?" Michael scoffed. He didn't say that he really, really didn't want a room change. Alex was easily the most interesting human being he'd ever seen. If Michael was going to have a human friend, he'd be it. This felt like a good excuse to get to know him.

Max scanned the page to see who Michael was rooming with.

"Easy, it's Alex. Say you're not comfortable rooming with someone who's, you know," Max said, shrugging to fill in the blank. Michael's eyebrows raised.

"Oh, fuck off, I'm not pretending to be a homophobe so you can get off in the shower to the idea of Liz Ortecho's shampoo without worrying someone might see a power outage," Michael told him, shaking his head, "You can go a weekend controlling yourself. And, if not, Iz can work her magic."

"You're a terrible brother."

"Love you too."

-

By the time they were loading onto the bus, Michael's excitement had bled into nerves.

Sure, he was better than humans, but humans were also notorious for thinking they were hot shit. Would Alex be a shitty roommate? It was only a couple days, but that was still hours where they'd be alone in the same room together. Would they bond? Would he piss Alex off? Would they get in a fight?

They'd both been in a lot of fights.

While everyone else packed towards the back of the bus, Alex sat up from behind the teachers. He'd already put his headphones on from what Michael sound see, ignoring every glare Mr. Rowe gave him for it as he tried to give them a big, preparatory speech. Subsequently, Michael didn't hear much of it either.

Most of the ride was like that, actually. It was a long 3 hours, but his eyes kept drifting to the only boy who sat alone with his eyes closed. He was bold and didn't give a shit which Michael was envious of. As much as he tried, he always cared a little bit, at the very least what Isobel and Max thought of him. But Alex didn't. And, to make matters more distracting, the sun seemed to hit his face in just the perfect way that it seemed he was torn out of a goddamn magazine. Another thing to be envious of.

"Will you stop staring at him?" Isobel scolded from beside him, "People are already going to be asking you if you're sleeping with him after you're alone with him every night, are you really trying to make the rumors worse?"

"Would it mean I get to punch someone in the face?" Michael asked. Max scoffed from where he was leaning over the seat behind them to join the conversation.

"If you do that, you're going to be in a lot of trouble."

"I'm already always in a lot of trouble, might as well have a good reason," Michael suggested, shrugging his shoulders. He smiled as his siblings shook their heads.

He let his eyes drift back to the godlike, Michelangelo-sculpture-esque man that was Alex Manes.

-

Mr. Rowe passed out each the key cards to everyone, giving a speech about being responsible. No parties, no drinking, no leaving past curfew, no this, no that.

Michael’s eyes followed the way Alex’s slender fingers grabbed the key card before slipping it into the back pocket of his tight jeans. He didn’t smile, he didn’t speak, and he simply embodied the vibes of every dull bad boy that popped up in shitty YA books. Except he wasn’t dull. That’s what made him interesting.

Alex must’ve felt him staring though because he looked over and Michael looked away so fast he almost hurt himself.

“You’re going to piss him off if you keep staring at him,” Isobel scolded, pinching his arm. He glared at her, rubbing the skin she’d attacked. “The last thing we need is you getting in a fight.”

“I’m not going to fight Alex,” he insisted, sneaking another look over at the boy he’d be spending the entire weekend with, “I promise.”

“Well, make sure you keep your phone on you so you can text me if things get weird,” Isobel said. Michael rolled his eyes.

“Okay, Mom.”

“Everyone has their keys? Okay, then we should be set for the night. Go find your rooms, get settled, and we’ll head down for dinner at 6:30, alright? Then back to your rooms for the night. Make sure you’re taking showers, we’re going to the Grand Canyon tomorrow and the last thing I need is anyone smelling like they haven’t bathed and they’re baking under direct sun,” Mr. Rowe preached, inciting a few whispered laughs and accusations about who he was talking about. Michael knew it probably wasn’t directly at him, but he shifted uncomfortably anyway. “Again, have your alarms set. I’ll knock on doors in the morning, but we’re all meeting down here at 7 in the morning and if I have to go hunt you down, we’ll have problems. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.” 

Eventually, they all started making their way towards their rooms. Isobel, Max, and Michael all opted for the stairs along with a few other students while the rest waited for the elevator. They made it to Michael’s room first and both Isobel and Max gave him wary looks.

“Jesus, you both seem to forget I have more control than you,” he said. They shared a look.

“Yeah, but only in one way. I just don’t want you to get in trouble,” Max said. Michael rolled his eyes.

“Stop parenting me.”

“Okay, fine,” Isobel said, holding up her hands in defense and subsequently becoming more parental. Michael rolled his eyes and turned to the door.

“I’ll see you at dinner,” he said, pushing into the room and closing it behind him.

He didn’t mean to slam it as loud as he did and he definitely didn’t mean to startle the boy who was already in the room. Alex had seemed to jump out of his skin and looked at Michael like he’d lost it. Michael gave an apologetic smile and tried not to think about the fact that this was the first time they’d ever been alone. Hell, this would be the first real conversation they’d had. 

Actually, he couldn’t remember a time Alex Manes had ever spoke outside of throwing insults at jocks or when they were forced to debate designer babies in 10th grade. Alex had been the only one who was anti that didn’t play the God card. He’d gone on a long spiel about how it wasn’t a guarantee, about how parents paid all that money to have a child exactly how they wanted, but what happened if it didn’t work that way? Nature vs. nuture, he’d said. A baby could look the part, but if it didn’t act the part, they had parents accusing them of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. That was the moment Michael knew he was more than a YA bad boy.

For a moment, he wondered if Alex thought he was the YA bad boy. They both fit different sides of the same profile. Alex was punk and hardened, Michael was thrown through the system and had a stint in juvie the summer before, and both of them had been in more fights than necessary. Oh, God, what if Alex thought he was bland?

“I felt each bed, I took the one that makes less noise,” Alex said simply, voice deeper than Michael remembered. Was it hot in here?

“Why? Don’t wanna wake me when you sneak out?” Michael asked, trying to act normal. He wasn’t well versed in making friends, but he knew staring at them like a deer in headlights was not the way to go about it.

“More like don’t wanna wake you when I stay up all night,” Alex responded, not offering a smile as he focused back on the bed. He had a duffel bag and he pulled out a long wire, kneeling on the bed and reaching over to plug it in the wall. His shirt slid up as he did so, revealing a small patch of tanned skin on his back that Michael found inexplicably interesting.

“Well, good news, I don’t really sleep either.”

“Seems like that’s why we got roomed together,” Alex said, dropping onto the bed after he plugged it into the wall and then plugged the other end into his phone, “Same answers on the questionnaire.”

“Seems like it,” Michael agreed. Alex paused for a moment, looking over at him with dark, curious eyes.

“And you don’t have a problem with this?”

“Are you gonna kill me in my sleep?”

“You just said you don’t sleep,” Alex said. Michael raised his eyebrow at the lack of an answer. It earned a small smile from Alex that made Michael’s heart skip a beat. “No, I’m not gonna kill you.”

“Then we’re all good.”

“And the rumors don’t bother you?” Alex prodded. Michael dropped his bag beside the other bed and laid down, grinning mindlessly as it groaned under his wait.

“The rumors about me don’t bother you?” Michael shot back. Alex eyed him for a moment. Michael fully expected him to elaborate on the rumors about himself to get his question across. It wasn’t uncommon for people to think Michael just didn’t get it. It didn’t matter how smart he was: you look homeless, people treat you like you’re helpless. But Alex didn’t fill in any blanks.

“As long as you don’t kill me in my sleep,” Alex said with a shrug, falling against the pillows and putting his attention onto his phone. Michael watched him for a few extra seconds before he shook his head, pulling out a book to pass the time.

He was definitely going to get a friend out of this. Who knew?

-

Michael was dead weight on the bed.

They’d had a full buffet for the students and Michael had eaten more than he’d eaten in a long time. As good as it was, he also felt like he was about to succumb to a food coma. So much for staying up all night.

He ended up waking up bright and early anyway, though. The birds started chirping before the sun rose and he rolled over in irritation. Alex was laying on the bed, curled up and asleep with his phone screen still on and shining towards the ceiling. Michael laid there for awhile, fading in and out of sleep until Alex’s alarm went off at 6.

Alex woke up with a pout and a sigh, stretching his limbs out and arching his back. Michael watched him mindlessly, watching his legs shake at the tense muscles before he slowly dragged himself up and Michael pretended to be asleep. The first step to making friends was decidedly not watching them while they slept.

Michael stayed in bed as Alex quietly grabbed his makeup bag and disappeared into the bathroom. Was it weird that Michael was a little sad he closed the door? Yes. Yes it was weird. What the fuck.

Around the time one of the teachers knocked on the door to tell them they should be awake, Alex reappeared all dolled up. His makeup was in full force, his hair done in a skillful way, and sporting black jeans and a black t-shirt. His cheeks seemed extra sparkly, though, and Michael nodded in approval.

“Nice face,” he said simply, grabbing a pair of jeans. Alex blew air from his nose in response.

“Okay.”

“Mhm.”

They both went down for breakfast and to gather to load the buses and head to the Grand Canyon. Alex, despite his friends, sat at the front of the bus by himself again. Liz and Maria sat towards the back and behind Kyle, leaving him alone. Michael felt bad.

“While you aren’t required to be on a strict buddy system with your roommate, I definitely suggest staying close by them because you will be needing to do check-ins together. We’re not trying to have anyone run off, alright? Understand?” Mr. Rowe announced.

“Yes, sir,” they all agreed and it seemed good enough for him, signalling for the bus driver to go ahead.

“So, did you cause a power outage in front of your roommate?” Michael asked Max.

“How would he have done that?” Isobel asked. Michael offered and filthy grin and moved his hand in an obscene gesture, his tongue poking in his cheek. She looked slightly horrified at the mental image and slapped his arm, instantly making him laugh. Max just sunk into the seat behind them with an embarrassed groan.

“Guess not,” Michael snorted. 

“Well, what about you and Alex Manes? How’d that go? No fights? No gay awakening?” Isobel prodded. Michael rolled his eyes, his mood tampering at just how dull the night had been.

“Sorry to disappoint. I took a shower as soon as we got back from dinner and he took one after and I was asleep by the time he got out, so nothing special,” Michael said with a shrug. He was admittedly disappointed. What was the point of putting two troublemakers in the same room if they didn’t raise a little hell? Instead, he ate too much and fell asleep like an old man.

“Okay, well, do something because it’s only been one night and I’m already over Carly’s long discussion over Kyle Vlaneti’s cheekbones. Like, I get it, he’s hot, but there are much more important things to talk about,” she scoffed. Michael huffed a laugh.

“Sorry, I’ll do my best to do something more interesting.”

He wasn’t quite sure what that interesting thing would be, but he could definitely try.

-

That interesting thing happened when he and Alex were walking back after their routine check-in.

“This is so fucking lame,” Michael said, gesturing the canyon that failed to impress him no matter how many signs he read, “It’s a big hole in the ground.”

“I don’t know, I think it’s kind of nice,” Alex responded. Michael raised an eyebrow at him and they both came to a stop.

“Nice?” Michael repeated, “What’s nice about it?”

“Look, come see,” Alex ushered, grabbing his arm freely and pulling him to an area that was pretty empty. They were far away from the rest of the group by the time Alex let go of him and he honestly got a little worried as Alex stepped so close to the edge that his toes were hanging off. 

“Dude, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Don’t you feel small?” he asked. Michael watched as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back. The sun seemed to find him and he was glowing. “Like nothing matters. Years of horrible things that built this country never stopped the natural flow of things enough to take this. No matter who we are, what we do, there’s always something… else.”

Michael licked his lips. Like what, he thought, aliens?

Alex breathed in deep.

“I could do anything. I could jump or I could kill someone or I could commit every atrocity, and the world would keep turning,” Alex whispered, “And some people do that. Because it doesn’t matter so they don’t care. But if we’re all horrible, every last one, who will notice the small things? Like… this. Us. I am nothing, but doesn’t that make us everything?”

“You lost me.”

Alex laughed softly and opened his eyes, turning towards Michael. Then he gestured for him to come closer. And, like all idiots with superiority complexes, Michael obeyed and let his toes hang off the edge without a thought.

“The only kind thing left is Mother Nature.”

“Mother Nature kills,” Michael pointed out. Alex rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be cynical, think about it. There’s nothing selfish in nature, not really. You take what you need.”

“Some species would disagree.”

“Just humans,” Alex sighed, “Fuck humans.”

Michael huffed a laugh and couldn’t help but admire him and agree. For a guy who wore all black and had punched a few jocks hard enough to raise talk of expulsion, he was apparently a lot more positive and logical than everyone else. 

“Fuck humans,” Michael agreed, turning his face towards the canyon. He thought it looked a little better now. “Fuck humans!”

“Yes,” Alex laughed cupping his hands around his mouth to amiplify his voice, “Fuck humans!”

“Fuck humans!” 

“Alright, boys,” Mr. Rowe sighed from somewhere behind them. Alex jumped at the sudden new voice and, on instinct, Michael grabbed his shirt and pulled him away from the edge just as he lost his footing. 

They ended up a few steps away from the edge, Michael still holding onto him while he caught his breath from the short moment of fear. But through it all, Alex was smiling at him. Not just the normal, irritated smile, but a big one that rivaled the sun that shined just for him. And that smile was targeted at Michael specifically. Wasn’t that breathtaking? 

“Alex, are you alright?” Mr. Rowe said, voice actually concerned as he jogged closer, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Um, yeah,” Alex said, slowly taking a step out of Michael’s hold and that cold demeanor started to slip back up as he remembered they weren’t alone, “I’m good. Just made me jump.”

Mr. Rowe looked between them and nodded. “Right. Just be careful, we don’t need you falling off the side no matter how angsty you feel.”

Michael laughed, “Sure thing, we’ll be careful.”

“Yeah,” Mr. Rowe said, looking between them a couple more times, “And you two are good with sharing a room together?”

“Doesn’t bother me,” Michael said, looking over to Alex. His smile was fully gone now, the hardened face back in place, and he shrugged.

“Haven’t killed him yet.”

“Comforting, Mr. Manes, thank you,” Mr. Rowe sighed. He gave Michael a pat on the shoulder before turning and walking back to the group. 

“Yet?” Michael asked once their teacher was out of ear shot. A secretive little smile slipped back onto his face.

“Never say never.”

-

“What are you doing?”

“Sitting with my class trip buddy.”

Michael grinned shameless as he got settled in the bus seat beside Alex in the far front. They were heading back to the hotel and Michael, still high on the moment he’d had with Alex on the cliff’s edge, wanted to be close to him again.

“Okay,” Alex agreed, eyeing him skeptically. Michael just gave that smile that he knew was charming. It was his specialty. Alex rolled his eyes and sat back into his seat, but the tiny smile tugging at his lips didn’t go unnoticed.

“So, whatcha listening to?” Michael prodded, leaning into his personal space to see what was on his phone. Alex elbowed him away gently, but he picked up the spare earbud to hand to Michael. He accepted it. “What is this?”

“Ska punk.”

“Huh?”

“Ska,” Alex said, grinning at Michael’s lack of understanding, “Like, No Doubt? Sublime?”

“You’re just trying to confuse me today, aren’t you?” he said. Alex rolled his eyes but turned up the music.

“It’s a mix between classic alt and ska which is basically, like, reggae influence,” Alex explained, “In my superior opinion, it’s the best genre.”

“Why?” Michael wondered. Alex raised an eyebrow and turned up the music a little more as if that would explain it. 

“Because it’s a perfect mix between chill and ‘fuck the man’ music. Like, when I take over the world, I’m gonna do it with ska punk blaring all the time,” Alex explained. Michael sputtered a laugh, unable to find him uninteresting in the slightest. 

“You plan to take over the world, huh?”

“So, here’s the plan, right,” Alex said, turning in his seat. He looked around as if someone might actually overhear and leaned a bit closer. Michael followed his lead, listening with pure interest. “I’m gonna write a musical, right, and it’s gonna take the world by storm. People are gonna love me and I’ll get the unbridled support by the world of theatre when I run for president at 30.”

“Oh, we’re jumping straight to president?”

“Hell yeah, I don’t waste time,” Alex said, waving a hand and looking deadly serious the entire time, “Anyway, I’ll be technically too young, but the overwhelming support will get me my win. Then, then, I’ll spend about two years in office learning all the government secrets and then I’m gonna whistleblow all of it before I go into hiding.”

Michael nodded, on board with every word.

“Liz and Maria are gonna stay in America to lead the true revolution while I go hide from American officials in Russia for a few years,” he explained.

“How are you gonna hide in Russia?”

“I figure I’ll seduce someone in power,” Alex said like it was easy. And, honestly, Michael believed him. “Anyway, then I’ll go to the Vatican‒wash, rinse, repeat, whistleblow that bitch. Then the Pope will probably try to have me assassinated on live TV, but it’s fine because I’ll survive.”

“Oh yeah?” Michael laughed. Alex eyed him, judging him until he feigned seriousness to match Alex’s. Still, he found it ungodly amusing that the guy who had just been saying how small and meaningless everyone was also had a plan to overthrow the government.

“Yeah, I’ll come back to America and I’ll be the face of the revolution. Enter ska punk to the masses. The chill vibes will give them no choice by to agree with my political ideology and feats,” Alex said, shrugging a shoulder and raising an eyebrow, “Easy.”

“Easy,” Michael agreed, not even caring that they were incredibly close at this point.

“Save the good people, destroy the bad. Eat the rich,” Alex said simply. Michael agreed without hesitation.

Sadly, before he could enjoy anymore of Alex’s existence, the bus came to a stop and Alex took his music back.

“See, I got you on board with just a little bit of No Doubt,” Alex said, sliding past Michael without a second thought and being the first one off the bus.

Michael knew for a fact that Alex was better than everyone.

-

The day was long and Michael could still feel a layer of sweat on his skin as he sat on the floor beside the hotel bed. Alex was taking a shower and he was recounting the day’s events. Screaming into a canyon with Alex, walking through a national park with Alex a few feet in front of him, deciding to sit beside Alex on the bus ride back and sharing his music, and rolling his eyes at all the questions Isobel was sending him to ask why he sat with Alex. 

Michael: I’m making friends fuck off

Isobel: well are you abandoning me at dinner too???

Michael: no i’ll sit with you and max 

Michael: maybe alex liz and maria can sit with us too

Isobel: two trios don’t make a happy family, Michael

Michael: fuuuuuck off

Isobel: 😘

Michael dropped his phone and tilted his head back, grinning to himself as he thought about how good it felt to scream with Alex. Maybe, if anyone was on par with his species, it was him. That would make sense, right? Alex seemed to get it. 

The bathroom door opened and Alex Manes walked out in a cloud of steam and Michael’s brain stopped working. Things slowed down and Alex walked out in slow motion, shirtless with a pair of sweats low on his hips. He was pulling on a shirt as he did so and the glory of his bare chest was gone too soon, but it didn’t stop Michael from staring slack-jawed and stupid.

“What?” Alex asked, snapping him out of his haze. He was eyeing him like he was being really fucking weird. Which, he was being really fucking weird. But he couldn’t help it. Alex was... was...

“Sorry,” Michael said, scrambling out of bed so he could take his own shower. Alex nodded slowly, heading over to his side of the room. Michael couldn’t help but watch him as he put his dirty clothes in the duffel bag and then stretched. His skin was red-tinted from the hot water and Michael wanted to touch and see if he could feel the heat.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

It wasn’t until he was in his own shower, this one much colder than the one Alex apparently took, and seeking the scent of the other boy’s body wash that it dawned on him what might be wrong. He froze for a solid five minutes, staring blankly at the wall as he thought about things and Alex and the fact that he was seconds away from doing exactly what he’d mocked Max for. 

Michael took a steadying breath and licked his lips. Out of morbid curiosity, he closed his eyes and took himself in his hand, picturing Alex Manes and the millisecond long glimpse of his bare chest and the way the sun hit his face and the way he smiled and the way he screamed and the way he lit up when he described his plans for world domination and the way his long fingers looked curled around his phone. He ended up biting down on his lip so hard that he drew blood, out of breath and more confused than ever.

Maybe that was a fluke or Alex was a weird exception. He was undeniably pretty and relatively feminine and clearly more interesting than the rest of the human race, so maybe that had something to do with it. Or maybe it was his own unconfirmed but also not denied sexuality that had Michael’s curiosity sparked. It was normal for teenagers to get a little confused, right? He’d always assumed his species was above that, but maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was just confused. He knew he liked women, that was undeniable and he knew he wasn’t faking it.

But the more he thought that he was just a little confused by Alex in particular, the more he realized that maybe it wasn’t normal to let his eyes linger in the locker room. Maybe it wasn’t normal to work so hard at keeping his eyes straight in juvie. Maybe it wasn’t normal to not be grossed out when he found himself focusing on the guy in porn.

Or maybe it was normal. Maybe it was okay.

He left the shower feeling ungodly drained and overwhelmed by his own thoughts. He’d expected a lot of things from this trip, but jacking off to his class trip roommate wasn’t exactly on the syllabus. The biggest discovery this weekend was supposed to be the visual of the Grand Canyon. 

He swallowed hard as he tried to remember how to act normal, but Alex looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t help but feel the urge to test his budding theory on his own sexuality. Would Alex welcome it if he tried? Would that fight everyone seemed to expect happen?

“Dude, what did you do to your face?” Alex scoffed, sitting up and taking a step too close. Every hair on Michael’s body stood up at his close proximity, stupid teenage hormones not knowing when enough was enough. “That’s gonna scab.”

“Sorry,” Michael said. Alex furrowed his eyebrows and then huffed a laugh.

“Why are you apologizing to me? It’s your mouth,” Alex said. But his eyes lingered on Michael’s cracked and swelling bottom lip and that seemed to confirm all of Michael’s brand new theories all on it’s own.

They stared for a moment, too close and too aware. Michael could see confusion sift through Alex’s eyes like he was trying to gauge if he was reading things correctly. Perhaps his own face betrayed that he absolutely was. 

“We should probably go down for dinner,” Alex said softly, mechanically. Michael nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” he said. 

Twenty-four hours in and he was already questioning his entire self.

-

“Anything interesting yet?”

Michael snorted, eyes flicking over to Alex and the way he elongated his body in his chair. He was smiling fondly at Liz and Maria as they laughed about something over dinner. It was easy to see that he loved them and Michael’s stomach twisted with something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. He supposed it had to do with the only people who ever gave him any semblance of love were Isobel and Max. Maybe he was jealous Alex could give it so freely to his friends who weren’t his intergalactic buddies.

“Yeah, actually,” Max said, clearing his throat. Isobel and Michael both raised intrigued eyebrows, giving him their attention as they leaned forward. “I think I’m gonna ask out Liz.”

Isobel and Michael both groaned and fell back into their chairs. Max just laughed.

“I’m serious this time! I’m gonna do it!” Max insisted.

“C’mon, man, what’s the point? We’ve got a couple months left of the school year and then the summer and then she’s going off to get a fancy degree or seven,” Michael said. Isobel shoved his shoulder, but he didn’t waver. Max shook his head.

“Nah, you don’t get it. We,” he paused, sighing happily, “We had a moment.”

“A moment?” Isobel asked.

“Yeah, like… one of those moments that are totally worth risking it all for, you know what I mean?” Max clarified.

Unwillingly, Michael’s eyes drifted over to where Alex was already looking his way. He could feel the tips of his ears turning red as Alex didn’t look away like most people did when they got caught staring. Instead, Alex raised his hand to his face and ran his thumb over his bottom lip. Michael involuntarily copied and discovered he was bleeding again. Alex gave a cool smile and mouthed ‘fuck humans’ before turning back to Liz and Maria.

Chills covered his skin as he looked back to his own dinner companions.

“Yeah,” Michael agreed, “I know those moments.”

-

Night two alone with Alex Manes proved much more difficult than night one.

Tonight, Michael was aware of a deep seeded desire to touch him and listen to him speak. Tonight, he struggled to keep his eyes to himself as Alex traded his jeans for sweats in the middle of the room instead of going into the bathroom like the night before. Tonight, had to sit on his hands to keep from requesting permission to do something he shouldn’t‒like seeing if he was as good at getting another guy off as he was at getting himself off. It felt like the question for the ages. And to think he’d bothered questioning his alien origins when he could’ve been questioning what Alex’s mouth could do. How foolish of him to ignore that.

More importantly, how had he ever ignored Alex? He was smart and funny and gorgeous. How had he missed the attraction before? Maybe it had to do with Alex being smart and gorgeous. He was going to get out of here and do good shit. Michael still, even with that scholarship waiting for him, taunted him and reminded him he wasn’t going to do much. 

“Are you okay? Did you get sun poisoned? You’ve been zoning out since we were on the bus,” Alex asked, “Got worse after your shower.”

Michael looked up at him from where he was seated on his bed and Alex was standing between the two. He was so fucking hot. Without thinking, Michael patted the bed beside him. Alex furrowed his eyebrows and didn’t move for a few seconds but slowly, slowly came to sit beside him.

“Jokes aside,” Michael started, mind still thinking of Max’s lack of hesitation when it came to Liz’s plans, “What do you actually want to do in the future?”

“Um,” Alex said, shifting slightly, “Getting the fuck out of Roswell is my only real goal. I hate it there.”

“Same,” Michael agreed.

“Yeah…” Alex said, “Guess that makes sense. We’re the two people with the most amount of fights in Roswell High history.”

Michael snorted, “You’re lucky. Your dad definitely used that fancy little title he’s got to keep you from being sent to juvie after you shattered Mason Glenn’s face.”

“Lucky,” Alex repeated, shaking his head, “I’m not lucky. Not with my dad.”

“Well, if it helps, I’m not lucky either,” Michael sighed, thinking about his shitty track record, “That fight I got into last year, almost deafened the guy in his left ear. Got me a couple months in juvie. Which, you know, maybe I am lucky. Most kids like me don’t get out that easy.”

“So the rumors are true then?” Alex asked. Michael huffed a laugh.

“Why are you so set on the rumors?” he wondered, turning to face him, “‘Cause it depends on which ones you’re talking about. I’m not sleeping with Iz if that’s the one you’re asking about.”

Despite his attempt at lightening the mood, Alex didn’t let him. His intense gaze wandered over Michael’s features and Michael clutched the sheets in his hand.

“The one where you live in your truck,” Alex stated bluntly.

“Okay, then is the one about you true?” Michael shot back, tilting his head, “Are you gay? Is that why you think about taking over the world? Is that why you like feeling small?”

Alex didn’t react in any type of physical way, but Michael wouldn’t have been surprised if Alex had started a fight then. Most of Alex’s fights started with someone calling him gay. Granted, it was usually yelling slurs at him to do so and not asking, but still.

“Is that why you wanna get out of Roswell?” Alex asked, ignoring his accusation, “Because here everyone turns a blind eye to a homeless teenager? Because it’s easier to say you live in a truck than to say you’re homeless?”

“Is that why you want to get out of Roswell? Because here everyone turns a blind eye to bullying? Because it’s easier to say you’re just other than to admit they’re in the wrong?”

Alex stared at him and Michael stared right back, both of them unwavering and serious. It was totally different from on the bus or on the cliff or standing close after a shower. This felt real. This felt… more. If those were moments, what was this? Because whatever it was, it was suffocating.

Then Alex was leaning forward.

Despite Michael’s prior thoughts and interest and despite how badly he wanted to, he jumped off the bed before Alex could do anything. It didn’t make that intense gaze feel any less all encompassing.

“I-I’m gonna go brush my teeth,” Michael said, heading to the bathroom and locking the door behind him. He stared at himself in the mirror, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. He was going to be kissed and he fled. That was definitely a first.

Then again, he’d never been faced with a boy trying to kiss him. Not just a boy, but a hot boy who seemed just as aware of the fucked up reality as he was. Which, again, made no goddamn sense. How the hell was Alex so aware and still able to smile and make jokes? For Michael, he knew there was more. He knew he was better. But Alex… Alex didn’t know that. He just thought humans were as good as it got. And he was still calling Michael out, still trying to force him to say something. He wasn’t turning a blind eye.

Michael gulped and stared at his reflection. He really would’ve liked to go back to the fun revelations.

By the time he exited the bathroom, the light was out and Alex was curled up in bed with his back towards Michael.

-

“Uh oh.”

“What?” Michael asked. Isobel was eyeing him with that knowing gaze as he sat beside her at breakfast. Alex had already been in the bathroom when Michael woke up and, when he came out, he made no mention of the night before. He’d given his good morning and then left the room. He didn’t seem angry. So why did Michael feel so guilty?

“I know that face,” she said, “What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Michael sighed, “I just think I pissed Alex off.”

“Why? What’d you do?” she wondered. Michael sighed, looking to where Alex was notably not looking at him. He couldn’t tell her Alex went in to kiss him and he chickened out.

“Nothing, we just… talked, I guess, I don’t know,” Michael said, shrugging his shoulders. Isobel looked at him oddly.

“You’re 17, Michael, why are you acting like an old man?” she asked. He scoffed, ready to argue, but even he couldn’t deny that it was particularly weird that they had a conversation like that. But, then again, it just brought him back to the conclusion that there was something about him. He wasn’t like the rest of the human race and he wasn’t like the limited knowledge he had of his own species. He was… other. In a good way.

His eyes drifted back to Alex for a moment. Could he be a teenager with him? Was he worthy of sloppy kisses and self-discovery with him? Could they be kids and not have every conversation be laced with the underlying truths of their reality?  

“You ever wanna take over the world and bring all the alien-destroys-New-York movies to life?” Michael asked her instead. Isobel sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Anyway,” Isobel said, leaning closer, “Apparently, Kyle Valenti stole a few bottles of alcohol from the kitchen. We’re gonna have a party tonight in his room after curfew since it’s the last night away from home. You should come, everyone else is.”

“Wasn’t one of the rules no parties?” Michael asked, “And no drinking?”

“Again, old man, when did you become against breaking rules?”

Michael licked his lips and looked over at Alex again. True. Since when did he have shit holding him back from doing what he wanted?

“Okay,” he said, “I’ll break rules.”

-

Just like the day before, it was hard to find anything interesting in where they were.

In theory, he could appreciate a national park and a museum, but Michael didn’t really give a shit. He would’ve been much more interested if they went to the Houston Space Station like was originally debated. But that was too expensive and going to national parks just wasn’t. 

Unlike the day before, though, everyone was buzzing when they got on the bus to go back to the hotel. Everyone was texting and whispering about this party they were planning. Michael was considering going if things went badly with Alex, but that’s it. Only if things went bad with Alex.

This was the last night they were here, this was his last real shot at getting him alone. He wanted to try. 

Besides, if Max made a move on Liz before he made a move on Alex, well, then they were all fucked.

He watched him throughout dinner, trying to think of what exactly he wanted to say. Maybe he could just tell him he thought he was hot, keep it simple. Or he could explain that, thinking about it, he’d actually liked him for a lot longer than he realized because it suddenly made a lot of sense why he’d been watching him for two years. Maybe Alex would take his confusion about his sexuality as a good enough answer and they could make out to help solidify that this wasn’t a weird boy crush. Not that he thought it was. He was confused about what this meant, but there was no confusion about the way Alex made him feel like his skin was being lit on fucking fire and like his mind was melting.

When they got back to the room, Michael quickly went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and make sure he didn’t smell. Everyone was getting ready for Valenti’s party. Time to prepare for his own.

“Hey, Alex, can we talk?” Michael asked as he stepped out of the bathroom. Alex looked up from where his phone and eyed him, nodding slightly.

Michael stepped closer, trying to find at least one of the starters to the plethora of conversations he’d had in his mind. He should say he liked him. He should say he didn’t mean to pull away. He should say that he accidentally had a second sexual awakening to seeing him shirtless. He should say so, so many things.

And instead he said none. Instead, he lunged forward and kissed him.

It was a short, chaste kiss, but it was enough for pieces to fall into place. That was definitely how that was supposed to feel. It probably had to do with Alex being superior. Where was a pedestal when you needed one?

“Um,” Alex said, taking a shaky breath as the kiss ended. Michael blinked a few times and pulled away a little more. Had he misread something? Alex licked his lips, looking at him like he didn’t get it. “Are-are… Is this a set up?”

“Huh?” Michael asked, furrowing his eyebrows. How the hell did he come to that conclusion?

“Is this one of those things where you kiss me and then ask me out and then I agree and then you stand me up and make fun of me with your friends?” he asked, hesitant rather than angry. Michael’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

“What? No, oh my god, who did that?” Michael asked, voice soft. Alex shook his head dismissively, still eying him like he didn’t get it.

“You just kissed me.”

“Yeah,” Michael agreed, “I really wanna keep doing it too if you do.”

“There’s a party.”

“I’d rather we have our own.”

“You barely know me.”

“I know enough.”

“So you know I’m into guys and you’re questioning?”

“No,” Michael said, shrugging his shoulders, “I know you’re smart and beautiful and funny.”

Alex looked him up and down and that hesitance in his eyes slowly but surely bled into something else. His eyes darkened just a little and Michael’s stomach twisted. Alex slowly stepped back into his space, idle fingertips touching his elbows and slowly sliding up his arms and over his shoulders and over his neck and into his hair. He hadn’t even gotten another kiss and Michael felt like his brain had melted.

Alex cradled his head as he pulled him in for another kiss, this one packing much more of a purpose. He parted his lips and welcomed Alex’s tongue against his own. His hands reached for Alex’s hips, pulling him closer as he tilted his head to kiss him a little deeper. His tongue deliberately slid over his sore bottom lip, letting him know he was being careful not to kiss him too hard. Which would’ve been fine, but he didn’t actually care.

Michael pressed in harder and Alex smiled, tugging on his hair gently. Add that to the list of things to make his mind run wild.

They kissed for a while just standing there, both of them too hesitant to move in case they pushed a button that wasn’t willing to be pressed. But the kisses got more sloppy and the touches got more desperate, both of them swaying as they tried so hard to push in closer. Michael couldn’t remember a time he’d been so desperate to touch someone. Suddenly, there was no confusion at all about anything. It was just this, just them.

As Alex’s hands slid beneath his shirt, it reminded Michael of his little Grand Canyon speech. You take what you need, he’d said. Did this count? It felt like it counted. The more he kissed him, the more he realized he’d wanted to do this for a long time. He just… hadn’t let himself think that.

Michael pulled away to remove his shirt, diving back in for another kiss. Alex breathed a hot breath against his mouth as his hands raked over his bare chest, taking in every inch. No one had ever touched him like that. He wanted more.

“Wait,” Michael breathed. Alex snatched his hands away quickly, still breathing heavy as he pulled away to see what was wrong. Michael gave a reassuring smile. “Do you, uh, like, do you… know how to… like…”

Alex smiled at him in a way that could’ve been condescending, but distinctly wasn’t because it was him. He placed his hands on Michael’s chest again.

“Yeah,” he said, “Do you?”

Michael licked his lips and looked down between them. Alex was still fully clothed, but he really, really didn’t want him to be.

“Not, uh, not with a guy,” he admitted, swallowing as he met Alex’s eyes again. There was no judgement. “Kinda lost on how exactly that works.”

“Well, I can explain it to you,” Alex said, “If you want.”

Michael involuntarily moved forward, kissing him hotly. “I want.”

“Okay,” Alex breathed, smiling as he moved his hands up to fiddle with his hair. Michael felt like putty in his hands and he enjoyed every second of it. “But we don’t even have to go, like, that far. I don’t really have any… Like, I didn’t bring lube or anything, didn’t really anticipate this, so maybe we should just stick to the basics.”

“Basics?” Michael repeated. Alex nodded and gave him another kiss.

“If you want to,” Alex told him, “With me.”

“God, Alex,” Michael laughed, shaking his head, “I literally have never wanted anything more than you in my entire life. I feel like my heart is going to explode in my chest. I have never liked someone as much as I like you and it’s really made this weekend impossible to enjoy anything that wasn’t you.”

Alex stared at him for a moment before he softly nodded and pulled him back into a kiss, but this one was a little different. This one was slow and held every goddamn secret in the universe. Yes, they were small, but yes, they were everything.

“C’mon,” Alex said, grabbing his hands and tugging him towards the bed.

Michael followed him with a lifetime of anticipation.

-

A knock sounded on the door to signify that they should be awake.

Michael groaned and went to reach for his phone, but paused when he realized he had the weight of another body on his back. Every moment of the night before all rushed into his mind and he smiled to himself, both excited that he’d been bold enough and disappointed that they probably wouldn’t get the chance to do anything like that again any time soon.

But, then again, he had a truck waiting for him.

“Alex,” Michael said, carefully turning so as not to crush him or throw him off, “We gotta get up. Bus loads in like an hour.”

Alex sighed and lifted his head, looking up at him. Even in his sleep-hazed state, he grinned.

“You’ve got sex hair,” he said. Michael snorted and ran in hands through Alex’s hair.

“Haha, I wonder why.”

“Yeah, me too,” Alex teased, pushing himself up to kiss him again. That one led to another and another and they only broke when more persistent knocking came.

“Michael!” Isobel said, “Open up! I need you or I’m gonna die!”

Michael sighed at her dramatics and looked to Alex with a pout.

“Get dressed, we’ll pretend nothing happened,” Alex said and Michael nodded easily. They both got up and Michael had to brace himself against the wall, feeling a little off-kilter. Alex gave him a filthy grin. “Sore?” he asked innocently, waving two fingers at him. Michael huffed and held up his middle finger.

Eventually, they pulled themselves together and answered Isobel who didn’t seem to notice anything as she headed straight for Michael’s bed.

“She’s the most annoying person I’ve ever met,” Isobel groaned, “I can’t wait to get home.”

Michael spared a glance at Alex who went into the bathroom to pack all of his shit.

“I don’t know, I think I could entertain this trip for another night or two.”

“Yeah, well your roommate isn’t annoying,” Isobel scoffed. Michael grinned to himself.

“Yeah, you got that right.”

The ride back to Roswell was more than agonizing. Alex sat at the front and Michael sat with Isobel, the only contact they had being over text. It wasn’t enough. They still hadn’t really talked about what happens next. God, he wanted to know. He wanted everything.

He could imagine it easily: the two biggest troublemakers at Roswell High hooking up. They’d be an unstoppable team. The idea made him grin.

When they got back to the school after the multiple hours of trip they endured, Michael went to his truck and waited. Everyone else had their parents pick them up or drove their own cars back home. Things would just go back to normal. It was just a normal class trip. 

Except Alex Manes didn’t have anyone pick him up and he didn’t have a ride. Instead, he just walked up to Michael's truck once most everyone was gone and took a deep breath.

“We should talk,” he said. Michael licked his lips and nodded towards his truck.

“Wanna go for a ride?” he asked. Alex grinned easily.

“Hell yeah I do.”

They definitely did a little more than talking.

Who knew the Grand Canyon could be so great?

[platonicteenwolf]

Wolf Moon (S1E1) Part II

Teen Wolf x Reader Series Rewrite

A/N: Let me know if any of the links are wacky or if I mess up on any of the pronouns cause posting three versions is sometimes a bit confusing so I can fix it if needed. Also lmk if there’s a misspelling or grammar issue too :)

They/Them Pronouns Version

He/Him Pronouns Version

Next Part / Masterlist

Warnings: dead body, swearing

Lacrosse stick strapped to his backpack, Scott pedals into the parking lot of Beacon Hills High School among the swarm of students. Skateboarders jump steps, potheads take barely concealed tokes, girls and guys hold hands, guys and guys hold hands, (yes it’s California.)

As Scott pulls his bike to one of the racks to lock it up, a pristine BMW with a license plate that reads: JCKSN37, blazes into the lot and stops in the space next to the racks. Scott, still kneeling, gets bumped in the back when the driver’s side door opens.

Jackson Whittemore, exceptionally good-looking and usually oblivious to anyone not within his social or financial circle, steps out to notice that Scott hit his car by being near it.

“Dude. Watch the paint job.”

He’s completely unaware of hitting Scott as he grabs his own lacrosse equipment.

“Yo Jackson!”

Hearing his favorite word, Jackson looks up and heads over to meet his friends. All good looking jocks with big smiles and expensive cars, pretty girls coming up to say hello.

—————

A school bell rings outside a brick building swarming with students.

“Alright let’s see this thing,” Stiles says, a little too eagerly. Now standing in front of the school, Scott takes off his backpack and pulls his shirt up a few inches to show Stiles and I the bandage on his lower back.

“Oh damn that looks bad!” I reach out to touch it and Scott flinches back. “Oops, sorry”

“It was too dark to see much but I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.”

Scoffing, Stiles countered “A wolf bit you? No, not a chance.”

“I heard a wolf howling.”

”No, you didn’t.”

“What do you mean ‘No, I didn’t?’ How do you know what I heard?”

Jumping in, I explained, “California doesn’t have wolves. Not for the last sixty years. The animals were almost hunted to extinction in the 1920s California Gold Rush.” Both boys looked at me in surprise. “What,” I questioned, “I like history.”

Seemingly accepting that answer Scott continued on. “Well, if you don’t believe me about the wolf, then you’re definitely not going to believe me when I tell you I saw the body.”

“Holy shit!” This was amazing!

“You what? Are you kidding me!?” He almost looked like a kid who just found the hidden candy cabinet.

“I wish. I’m going to have nightmares about it for a month.”

There was still one thing I’ve been wondering about though, “Which half of the body was it?”

“Oh- it was the top half. I saw her dead eyes staring back at me. It was scary.” Scott shuddered, thinking about her lifeless body laying in the forrest.

“Well I think that’s freaking awesome,” Stiles concluded. “This is seriously the best thing that’s happened to this town since...”

Stiles suddenly got very distracted by something behind Scott. I turned around to see what it is and you’ll never guess.

“...since the birth of Lydia Martin who’s walking toward us right now.”

A drop-dead gorgeous junior named Lydia Martin was walking towards the school doors like it was a fashion show runway in Milan. Stiles has had the biggest crush on Lydia ever since we were kids.

“Hey Lydia, how are you? You look--” She walks right past him not even giving him a second glance. “...like you’re going to ignore me.”

Scott chuckled at his failed attempt in flirting with the girl as I pat him on his shoulder.

“You’ll get her next time champ.” Stiles shot me an unappreciative glare as I held my hands up in defense and he started grumbling about how unfair everything was.

“You guys are the cause of this, you know. Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I’m a nerd by association. I’ve been Scarlet-nerded by you.”

As we reach the steps of the school I get ready to part with the dynamic duo to get to my class. “Alright boys, I’ve got first with Harris so I’ll see y’all later.” Mentions of good luck were lost behind me as I entered the thick crowd ready to start the day.

—————

First period English. Scott takes the desk next to Stiles as the teacher, Mr. Curtis starts writing instructions on the chalkboard.

“As you all know by now, there was indeed a body found in the woods last night. I’m sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened but I’ve been told that the police have a suspect in custody.”

Scott looks to Stiles who shrugs, news to him as well.

“Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus on your desk outlining the semester. Read it now. And by read I don’t mean skim.”

As the students begin reading a cell phone starts ringing out of nowhere. Scott glances up and looks around. The other students quietly read the syllabus, seemingly not hearing the noise. Gazing about, he can’t seem to find the source until his eyes fall on the windows of the classroom...

Outside - across the quad, Scott sees a girl sitting on a bench who he will come to know as Allison Argent. Sixteen and radiating with an innocent beauty. When she puts the cell phone to her ear, it becomes obvious that, despite the closed windows and the distance, this is the ringing Scott is somehow able to hear.

More astonishingly, Scott can hear both Allison and her caller.

“Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it,” Allison teased.

“Just making sure you’re there okay and you’ve got everything you need.” But Allison digs through her bag, becoming alarmed.

“Everything except a pen. Oh my God, I didn’t actually forget a pen.”

“Don’t panic. I’m sure you can borrow one from another student.”

“Okay, okay, I gotta’ go. Love ya.”

Unable to take his eyes off the extraordinary girl, Scott watches the school’s principal join her on the steps.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” The Principal guides her across the quad, their conversation becoming clearer to Scott with every step.

“So you were saying San Francisco isn’t where you grew up?”

“No, but we stayed for more than a year which is unusual in my family.”

Even when Allison and the Principal disappear from view, Scott hears the clatter of the building door opening, the clicking of their heels on the tile floor of the hall.

“Well, hopefully, Beacon Hills is your last stop for a while.” The door to the classroom opened, causing the rest of the class to look up.

The principle turns to address the room. “Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Scott barely breathes as Allison heads for the one empty desk left in the room. Right behind him. She puts her notebook down, then glances up to see Scott turned toward her. Holding out a pen. With a relieved but curious smile, she takes it from him.

“Thanks.”

Scott gives her a nod, turning around with a proud expression. Looking up at the front of the room, Mr. Curtis stands up to start the lesson.

“We’ll begin with Kafka’s metamorphosis on page 133...”

—————

The school bell rings throughout the halls indicating its time to move to your next class. As I walked out of my classroom I spotted Stiles coming out of his. Jogging towards him to catch up, I shout his name to grab his attention. Whipping his head around he greets me with the classic, dopey, Stilinski smile. “Hey bub, what’s up?” I ask.

Rolling his eyes at the nickname, he grumbles all about how boring his English class was. “...oh! And there’s a new girl at school today!”

Interesting, I thought. Spotting Scott in the distance we both quicken our pace to meet with him at his locker.

—————

As he grabs his lock to open the door, Scott hears Allison just down the corridor. Looking towards where she stands they connect eyes. She starts to smile, recognizing the cute guy who gave her the pen. But then Lydia Martin swoops in front of her.

“That jacket is absolutely killer. Where did you get it?”

“My Mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco,” Allison explains.

Suddenly Jackson, Lydia’s boyfriend, walks up to the pair and puts his arm around Lydia and she greets him with a kiss.

Turning back towards his locker, Scott spotted Y/N and Stiles walking up to him.

—————

Looking at the Alpha Male and his arm candy across the hall, I turn towards the boys with a confused look on my face.

“Can someone tell me how the new girl is here all of five minutes and she’s already hanging with Lydia’s clique?”

“Because she’s hot. Beautiful people herd together,” Stiles answers. He’s got a point. He steps up to open his own locker next to Scott’s.

“Is that why Lydia isn’t herding with you?”

“Lydia’s a long term project, okay? And trust me, I’ve got all the patience in the world for a high yield investment like her.”

You’ve got to give him credit. He’s committed.

—————

Head cocked slightly, Scott tunes into the conversation from the other end of the corridor, voices coming into focus.

“So,” Lydia exclaims, “this weekend there’s a party.”

“A party?”

Jackson leaned on the lockers next to him, arm now wrapped around Lydias torso. “Yeah, Friday night. You should come.”

“I can’t. It’s Family Night this Friday. But thanks for asking.”

“You sure? Everyone’s going after the scrimmage”

“You mean like football?”

“Football is a joke at Beacon. The sport here is Lacrosse. We won the state championship the last three years--“

Cutting in Lydia praises, “Because of a certain team captain.”

“We have practice in a few minutes,” Jackson explains. “You don’t have to be anywhere, do you?”

“Well, no, I was just going--“

Lydia claps her hands in excitement, “Perfect! You’re coming.”

—————

A whistle blowing echoes across the field. The Lacrosse Team’s Coach gathers the team on the field, Stiles and Scott lagging behind.

“But if you play I’ll have no one to talk to on the bench! You really gonna’ do that to your best friend?”

“Hey! No fair.” I look toward Stiles pouting when he gives me an obnoxious look.

“You don’t count.” I shoved him sticking my tongue out and watched as Stiles accidentally collided with Scott.

“Oops sorry Scott,” I apologize.

With an amused smile after watching our banter Scott continued his argument. “I can’t sit out again. My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season, I make first line.” He heads for the field, pausing to see Lydia climbing the bleachers. And stepping right behind her... Allison.

I look towards the boy and follow his gaze behind me where I see the girls sitting. “Hey,” I nudged Stiles who was busy putting all his gear down around him in a destructive manner. “I think Scott’s got a crush on the new girl.”

“What? What makes you say that?”

“Look!” I point towards where Scott stands, still starring dreamily at Allison, but he’s suddenly interrupted when a lacrosse stick hits him in the chest.

“McCall! You’re in the goal.”

Scott turns to Coach Bobby Finstock, a man with little comprehension of the difficulties of teenage life. He tosses Scott the bundle of goalie equipment.

“But I’ve never played goal.”

“I know. Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It’s a first day back thing. Get them energized, fired up!”

“What about me?”

“Try not to take any in the face.”

This is not gonna end well, I think to myself.

—————

Stepping into the net, Scott glances to the bleachers where Allison watches with Lydia, eyes focusing on them.

“Who is that,” Allison questions.

Him? I’m not sure who he is. Why?”

“He’s in my English class.”

Scott looks up, shocked to hear Allison asking about him. But with his hearing momentarily turned up, he flinches at the whistle blow, sound ringing through his skull.

One of the bigger players charges forward as the Assistant Coach passes the ball to him. Catching it, he whips his stick forward, hurling the ball toward the goal.

Still reeling from the whistle, Scott looks up too late to see the ball soaring toward him. It bounces right off his helmet and into the net. The team laughs wickedly. Even Coach snickers.

Cheeks burning under his mask, Scott readies himself for the next player. When the whistle blows again, he’s ready. The Assistant Coach passes the ball to the next player who catches it and fires it right at the goal.

Scott moves startlingly fast, almost an instantaneous reaction. Then he notices the player staring at him with a mixture of disappointment and surprise. Scott has the ball.

“Yeah!” Stiles shouts from the sideline, impressed with his friends newfound luck. “See I told you he was practicing,” I brag to Stiles.

When the next player takes the shot, Scott catches the ball again. And then again. And again. Nothing can get past him.

In the bleachers, Allison and Lydia sit forward.

“He seems like he’s pretty good,” Allison continues to stare at Scott practicing on the field

“Very good.” Intrigued, Lydia keeps her gaze locked on Scott who now stands with a far more confident posture. Until he sees that Jackson is next in line. Glaring at Scott, he practically strangles the lacrosse stick with his gloves.

“Oh God...” Scott croaks with fear.

The Assistant Coach tosses the ball up. Jackson launches forward, catching the ball and spinning around to fire it at the goal. But Scott moves with supernatural precision. The ball lands right in the pocket of the goalie stick.

Stiles and I let out hollers of excitement, jumping up from the bench. In the bleachers, Lydia stands and cheers as well causing Jackson to throw a look at her. She returns his glare with a sly smile, a warning to step up his game.

Grinning, Scott gives the goalie stick a whirl, spinning it with a flick of his wrist and sending the ball soaring right into the pocket of the stunned Assistant Coach’s stick.

—————

In the woods, Scott retraces his steps from last night with Stiles and I following behind him.

“I don’t know what it was. It was like, I had all the time in the world to catch the ball.”

Walking towards a bank we came to a river we had to cross. I hope Scott knows where he’s going. After seeing nowhere to cross we trudged through the river soaking our feet in the water. If my shoes smell after this I’m gonna kill him.

Reaching the other side, Scott continued with his worries. “And that’s not the only weird thing. I mean I can hear stuff I shouldn’t be able to hear. And I can smell things.”

“Smell things? Like what,” Stiles questions.

“Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket.”

“I don’t have any...” Stiles pulls out a lint-covered piece of wrapped gum.

Looking up at Scott in shock, he just shrugged, continuing his walk into the woods. Double checking, I ask him, “so all this started with the bite?”

“What if it’s an infection? What if my body is flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?”

“I’ve actually heard of this,” Stiles starts, “It’s a specific kind of infection.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s called... Lycanthropy.”

“Oh my god.” I roll my eyes at his accusation. He can’t be serious.

“No I’m serious! This is important!”

“What’s that? Is it bad? It sounds bad.”

“It is. But only once a month.”

“Once a month?”

“On the night of a full moon. Awroooo”

Scott looks at him. And then it clicks. Giving him a push, we continued walking.

“Stiles you’re such a dumbass sometimes,” I chide.

“Hey, he’s the one who heard a wolf howling.”

“There could be something seriously wrong with me!” Scott looks back at Stiles with a look of fear.

“I know! You’re a werewolf! Grrr!” He slashes his hands through the air in a claw motion and I take this opportunity to stick my leg out in front of him and watch as he trips.

As Stiles falls to the forrest floor Scott and I laugh at his stupidity. “Okay, obviously, I’m kidding. But if you see me in shop class melting down all the silver I can find it’s because Friday’s a full moon.”

We seemed to reach the destination because Scott started to look around the area.

“I swear this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running, I dropped my inhaler...”

“Maybe the killer moved the body.”

“If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eighty bucks.”

As the boys thought of different theories I looked towards the woods and saw someone walking towards us. Is that.. Derek Hale?

“Hello,” I greet, waving to the man.

Stiles looks up at me and then to the man and taps Scott on the arm, pulling him to his feet. Derek Hale. Nineteen and unquestionably handsome, he has a rougher look than the cleanly shaven Beacon Hills boys.

“What are you doing here?”

Both Scott and Stiles are too stunned to speak at first “This is private property.”

“Sorry, we didn’t know,” Stiles assures.

Derek stares at Scott, barely noticing Stiles or I.

Scott opens his mouth to speak to the man but then closes it, at a loss for words.

I take this as an opportunity explain. “We were just looking for something but we’ll leave. Sorry to bother you.”

As we’re turning to go, Derek tosses an object to Scott. His inhaler. When he looks up, Derek is already walking away.

Now finding his voice, Scott mutters, “Aight, come on. I’ve gotta get to work.”

“Dude, that was Derek Hale, “Stiles exclaims. “You remember, right? He’s only a few years older than us.”

“Remember what?”

“His family. They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago.”

We used to have a class together in school. “I remember the cops pulling him out of class to tell him,” I tell the boys. “I wonder what he’s doing back.”

Scott eyes the inhaler in his hand, closing his fist over it. “Come on,” he says again.

—————

Tag List: @linkpk88

[crying-gay-tears]

Brighter Than The Sun

Chapter 2: The First Day

“G-Gon?” Killua’s mouth fell open in surprise. “What are you doing here? How did you find my room?” Gon looked so excited and he had no idea why.

“Killua!! I didn’t know this was your room! I just got home and wanted to meet my roommate!”

“Home? Wait, does that mean-” realization hit him suddenly.  “Are you in 405A??”

“Yes! We’re roommates!” 

Killua stood in stunned silence for a moment, unsure of how to feel. Of all the people on campus to have as his roommate, it turned out to be Gon, the bubbly and strange boy he had ironically just been thinking about. 

“Can I see your room? I peeked in earlier when I arrived but it was empty.”

“Uh, sure” he stepped to the side, letting him into the room. “I haven’t really done anything in here yet. I got in right before orientation, so I didn’t have time to start unpacking. When I finally got back after the library I put some stuff away, but I’ve mostly just been hanging out.” Killua blushed, suddenly hyper aware of the chocolate robot wrappers on his desk, and his haphazardly arranged belongings. His suitcase was lying open on the floor beside his dresser, stacks of books were scattered across the desk and floor.

“I think it looks great already! I haven’t had the chance to unpack or decorate at all yet.  Is this your favorite band?” He nodded to the crooked poster on the wall above the bed.

“One of my favorites, yeah. It’s the one playing right now.” He motioned to the bluetooth speaker sitting on the windowsill. 

Gon walked over, sat on his bed, and began bobbing his head to the music.

“They’re really good! You’ve got nice taste in music.” 

Killua chuckled, “This is only one song! I like a lot of different stuff, there’s a lot to listen to.”

“Well, you’ve got the whole school year to show me!” 

His smile was warm and real and it shook Killua up quite a bit. No one had ever really shown interest in the things he enjoyed before, but here was someone he had just met, genuinely excited to be listening to underground rock with him. 

They hung out while Killua finished unpacking his suitcase and getting settled. After that, Gon wandered back to his own room to start his unpacking and when he did Killua followed and this time Gon played the music. His taste was a little weird, and mostly pop, but Killua didn’t mind. He was enjoying the view as Gon danced around his room, tossing clothes into his dresser and arranging trinkets on his desk.When he went to the bathroom to unpack his toiletries, Killua stood over the desk, checking out all of the small momentos Gon felt were important enough to bring with him to college. Among them was a few seashells, a green ring, and a fishing hook in a small glass jar. A photo in a blue frame near the corner of the desk caught his eye, and he leaned in for a closer look. Gon, wearing a graduation cap and gown, was facing the camera, eyes squinted with a beaming smile on his face. One arm held his diploma in the air, while the other was wrapped around a teary eyed woman. Her head came up to his shoulder, and where her hazel eyes and orange hair bore no resemblance to him, her warm and genuine smile was a spitting image. She must be-

“That’s my Aunt Mito!” Gon chirped, eyes lighting up as he walked over to where Killua was standing. “She burst into tears right after this picture was taken. I know she was proud and happy for me, but I’m pretty sure she was really sad that day. Mostly worried about the future, I think.” His face fell a bit. “She knows I want to follow in my dad’s footsteps, and since he’s so busy and always overseas I think she’s worried I’ll just leave and never come back.” 

“What does your dad do?”

“He’s an archaeologist.”

“Wow, that’s so cool!”

“Yeah, that’s why I want to see for myself! If his job is so amazing that it was worth missing out on my life and Mito-san’s life, then I want to know what it’s like!”

Killua felt kind of bad hearing that. He knew what it was like to have a dad ditch you for work, but at the same time, his parents were also very involved with his life. Suffocatingly so. They had appearances to uphold, afterall. His parents were far from perfect and even farther from pleasant, but he still couldn’t imagine one or both of them just leaving and not returning. Plus, what would Gon do if he finally got the job and it wasn’t as amazing as his dad made it seem? Killua knew from experience that hope usually just led to disappointment. 

He pulled out the desk chair and swung his leg over it, nestling backwards in the seat, his arms folded across the top rail of the chair, and his chin resting on top of them. “So what’s your dad like?” 

Gon sat on his bed across from Killua and was lost in thought for a moment. “Well, I’ve only really seen him a few times in my life. . His name is Ging. Ging Freecs. He’s pretty rough around the edges, but well respected. He’s famous in parts of the world for his finds and research. I don’t know much else, except a few stories Mito-san has told me from when they were kids on Whale Island together. She says I’m a lot like him though. ” He shrugged, “By her tone of voice,  I can never tell if she means that as a good or bad thing.” 

Killua surprised himself when he spoke, “Whether you're like Ging or not, and whether that’s good or bad doesn't really matter. You’re you. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re pretty cool.” 

They locked eyes and a huge smile broke out on Gon’s face. 

“Thanks, Killua. I think you’re really cool too! I’m glad we’re roommates!”

Killua just grumbled a bit in response, his mouth set in an awkward smile. Gon could be so embarrassing sometimes.

They slipped into a comfortable silence after that, music still playing softly through the room as Gon continued organizing his stuff and Killua scrolled on his phone. After a while Gon let out a huge yawn and decided it was time to call it a night. They were both mostly unpacked, and even though classes didn’t start for two more days, he wanted to get up early to explore the campus some more. Yawning himself, Killua followed suit and once behind his closed door, stripped to his boxers and flopped onto the bed. Staring up at the ceiling, his mind began to drift.

It had been a hell of a day. Aside from his text letting them know he arrived safely, he hadn’t spoken to his parents at all. Where this wasn’t too different from the norm--they were usually too tied up with work and social ladder climbing to give him much attention--it was still nice to have space from them and his life back home. He’d been so excited for the freedom college was going to provide him. Freedom from the claustrophobic walls of the Zoldyck estate, from his siblings, and best of all, freedom from his parent’s cold judgement. He was finally able to live his life without them breathing down his neck and criticizing his every move. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, but he was so happy to finally have the space to explore and figure it all out. 

The only thing he was really worried about when he left for college was who his roommate would be, and he was pretty relieved to have Gon. They’d barely known each other a day, but he had the feeling that living with him was going to be a good time. He’d never met someone so… open and warm. His joy was almost contagious, it was a nice contrast and welcome change from his boarding school roommates and family. For the first time in a long time, he fell asleep excited for what the future would hold.

~~~~~~~~

The next two days were a blur of course catalogues and video games with his roommate, and before he knew it, Gon found himself on the way to his first college class, Biology 101. He was practically skipping down the brick walkway and, thanks to all of his previous exploring, he was able to find the classroom with no issue.  He snagged a spot towards the front by a window, and as he sat, noticed a neatly bound packet lying face down on the desk. He was curious, but resisted the urge to flip it over, choosing instead to check out his surroundings. There were a few other students scattered at the tables around the room, and a short woman with green hair stood at the front. He watched as she neatly wrote in neat and swoopy cursive across the white board. 

Dr. C. Yorkshire 

Adjunct Professor 

Biology 101 

Fall Term

Class A 

So she was the professor, Dr. Cheadle. She looked put together and kind, but he’d be lying if he said her calm demeanor was enough to soothe his nerves. School was never really his thing, he much preferred to be outside learning with his hands and on his feet, and his grades usually reflected the trouble he had with studying. His teachers in the past had always been nice enough, but he hated disappointing them with his test scores, and he wanted college to be different. He wanted to put his best foot forward with his new life and really prove himself. He was determined to give it his all. 

A few more people shuffled in and filled the open desks, and when the wall clock marked the top of the hour, the professor faced the class and cleared her throat. 

“Good morning everyone, and welcome to Biology 101. I’m Dr. Cheadle Yorkshire and I’ll be your professor. As you should know, this class is accompanied by a mandatory lab that will meet once a week. You’ll all be partnered off and expected to work together for the lab as well as in class activities.” Her eyes scanned the room, mouth set in a stern smile. “To kick things off, I’d like everyone to turn over the packet in front of you. This is a copy of your class syllabus, I took the liberty of binding them for you, as you’ll be referencing it throughout the entire semester.  It contains all of the information you’ll need to be successful in this class, including classroom policies, expectations, assignments, required reading, my office hours, and more!” 

Gon held the syllabus in his hand and was staring at it like it was made of gold. Everything he needed to do well in this class? It was like he’d been handed a treasure. 

“Now, I’ll call out the lab pairings, and you can find your partner and arrange your seating accordingly, then we can begin our first activity!”

When Gon’s name was finally called along with his partner’s, he was giddy with anticipation and just as he stood to scan the crowd for his partner, a blue satchel dropped down on the table and a tall boy sunk down into the seat next to his. His blonde hair framed his face and hung just above his shoulders, his smile was tight but genuine as he held a hand out to Gon. 

“I’m Kurapika, nice to meet you, partner.” 

Gon shook it and chirped back “I’m Gon! Nice to meet you too!”

They sat in silence while Cheadle finished calling out the rest of the pairs. When everyone was settled, she addressed the class.

 “Alright, now that everybody is paired off, we can begin today’s activity! In order to get to know your syllabus and your lab partner, I’ve created a scavenger hunt! Simply peruse your syllabus and use what you read to answer the questions on this handout!” She waved a stack of papers in the air and with a proud smile on her face, began handing them out. “You can begin as soon as you get your worksheet and you are dismissed whenever you finish!”

When their worksheets were placed in front of them, Kurapika turned in his chair to face Gon. 

“Well, I suppose we better get started, eh? We can both read through the syllabus and then answer the questions together, does that sound good to you?”

“Sure!” Gon nodded in response and they got started. Gon was a little overwhelmed with the amount of information on the syllabus. It was pretty stressful seeing an entire semester of work listed out like that. He was excited for the lab though, all of those assignments seemed pretty hands on and a few of them were even supposed to be done outside. Maybe this class wouldn’t be so bad afterall. After a few minutes, they began answering the questions together. It wasn’t too tough to find the answers, and with two people it went by pretty quickly. Gon didn’t want the whole class to pass without getting to know his lab partner though, so he tried to strike up a conversation between questions. 

“So, Kurapika, what’s your major? Are you a freshman here too?”

Kurapika didn’t look up from the worksheet when he answered. “I’m not a freshman, but I am new. I’m a sophomore and I transferred here this year.I’m double majoring in Psychology and Criminal Justice.” He glanced up and over at Gon. “What about you? Have you decided on a major yet?”

“I have! Well, kinda. I’m considering Anthropology or maybe  Environmental Biology. Still trying to figure out which would be best, but I don’t think I could handle double majoring like you. Your majors sound really great! What do you want to do with your degree?”

“I want to become a detective, I’m still deciding between public and private.” He scribbled something on his paper. “The answer to number 12 is ‘Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-5pm’ by the way. Three more and we’re finished.” 

Gon was hastily writing in the answer when Kurapika asked, 

“What do you want to do when you get your degree?”

“I want to become an archaeologist, like my dad! Or possibly a similar job within the field.” He perked up when he noticed that Kurapika had put down his worksheet and turned his focus to their conversation instead. 

“So you're a transfer student, how do you like it here so far? Where did you transfer from, and what made you leave?”

 “Woah Gon, you’ve almost got more questions than the assignment.” Kurapika chuckled but still pressed on. “So far it’s fine, but I’ve only been here for 3 days so we’ll see how it goes. I transferred here from Meteor City Community College, but I never really wanted to go there in the first place. This was my first choice school, but I wasn’t able to move here last year because of some family stuff. This year I was able to, so I did. And how are you liking it here? What made you choose YNU?”

“It’s my dad’s alma mater, so it was an easy choice. So far I’m really liking it! I was a little nervous before I got here, but everything has been pretty awesome. I’ve gotten to know and love the campus already, and I’ve got a great roommate too! Plus, my first class is going well! And that’s what I was the most nervous about.” 

“It’s good that you like your roommate. That can cause a lot of trouble for some. It definitely did at my last school, so that’s actually what I was most worried about here.”

“I’m sorry you had trouble last year, but is your new roommate nice I hope?” 

“Well, I actually lucked out and got a suite to myself. I requested one when I filled out the transfer paperwork, and told them about my last experience. I wasn't counting on it to work out in my favor too much, but it did.”

“I’m glad it did!”

“And I’m glad you’re feeling better about your classes now that you’ve got one under your belt.” He slid his worksheet over with a pale slender hand,  the last three answers were written out neatly.

Gon quickly jotted them down and slid the paper back to Kurapika. “Thank you!”

“No problem, it was a team effort after all.” He smiled as he slung his satchel over his shoulder and stood up to turn in his paper, Gon grabbed his backpack and followed behind him. 

After they handed her the worksheets, Dr. Yorkshire complimented their effort and teamwork, and dismissed them for the day. They were in the hallway and Kurapika was waving goodbye when Gon spoke again. 

“Kurapika, do you wanna grab lunch sometime? I know we’re just lab partners, but you seem really cool and I’d like to be friends!”

Kurapika looked puzzled for a moment but his voice was soft and sincere when he spoke. “I’d like that, Gon.” 

With that, they exchanged numbers and went their separate ways. 

The rest of the day breezed by, and Gon was pretty much on cloud 9. He was excited about his classes, and even more excited about the people he met in each one. He had lunch scheduled with Kurapika for later on that week, and he decided to check out some of the clubs a few of his new friends suggested to him throughout the week as well. It was going to be a great year! He texted Killua and they decided to meet up for dinner in the cafeteria, so he headed that way after his last class.

When he arrived, he scanned the room until a crop of silver hair caught his eye at a small table by the dessert station in the far corner. He made his way over and plopped into the seat across from Killua, who was surrounded by plates of different desserts.

“Gon, the dessert bar is amazing. You’ve gotta try the chocolate cake, and there’s cookies too!”

“It looks great! I’m gonna go grab some, and maybe some regular food too!” He stuck his tongue out teasingly, Killua just rolled his eyes in response. 

“Have you been here long?”

“Nah, I got here a few minutes before you. I just headed straight for the dessert.” 

Gon laughed out loud. Dessert for dinner, Mito would’ve killed him. College really was a different world.  “Do you want me to grab something else for you while I’m up?”

“Eh. I’m fine for now, might grab some pizza or something in a bit.” 

Gon nodded and left to make his plate. When he returned, Killua was scrolling on his phone, fork in hand hanging lazily at his mouth. 

His stomach growled and he quickly twirled a bite of spaghetti around his fork. The day was so eventful he hadn’t even realized he was hungry. 

“So, how were your classes? Did you like your professors?” he asked, shoving the huge bite of pasta into his mouth. 

Killua put his phone down and draped his arm over the back of his chair. “They all seem pretty boring, but I’m mostly getting gen ed classes out of the way for now, until I decide what I wanna major in, so that’s probably why. I don’t even remember any of the professors’ names, so that answers that question I guess,” He shoveled another bite of cake into his mouth, “What about you?”

“They all seemed nice enough, but I think I liked Professor Satotz in Anthropology the best. He seems interesting, so I’m excited to see how that class goes. Did you make any new friends?”

Killua quirked an eyebrow at him. “Uh, no. Did you?”

“I did! A few people, and I actually have plans to hang out with one of them! I’m gonna check out some clubs here too, I can definitely make some new friends there! And you’ve gotta come with me Killua! We can check them out together!” As he spoke he was practically buzzing with excitement.

“What clubs are you going to?” Killua asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Well, There’s a bunch of them to choose from, but the Great Outdoors Club, the GSA, and the Ultimate Frisbee Club were all recommended to me, so I’m gonna start with them I think.”

“GSA?”

“It stands for Gay Straight Alliance.”

Killua almost choked on his last bite of cake. “O-oh. Right. Why are you going to that one? Are you... gay?”

Gon’s face scrunched up a bit, his gaze suddenly intense.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that if you are!” Killua backpedaled. “Just asking!”

“Yeah, I’m just thinking about it. I guess I don't know? I was gonna check it out ‘cause I liked the idea of an alliance, and I wanted to go to show support I guess, but hey, maybe the club will help me figure it out!”

Killua’s cheeks were tinged pink. “You don’t know? Haven’t you ever gone on a date or to a school dance or something before?”

“Well, I’ve gone on dates with girls before, never with any boys though.” He rested his chin on his hand. “To be honest, I’m just not sure. I guess now I’m pretty excited to see what I learn from this club!” His eyes squinted up in a bright smile. 

“You should come with me when I go! It’s for everyone to come together, so I don’t think it even matters if you’re gay or not anyways.” 

“Yeah, maybe, we’ll see.” He awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck. “ I’m gonna go grab some food, be right back.” He stacked his dirty plates and quickly shuffled off.

Gon leaned back in his chair and rubbed his full belly. He looked around the cafeteria, already starting to recognize people from his classes amongst the crowds at tables and in line at food stations. His first day was really amazing and if this was what the year was going to be like, he was so ready for it. 

~~~~~~~~

After wandering between the different food stations for a few minutes, Killua finally returned to the table with a plate of spaghetti and some soda. The food on campus was actually pretty good, so that was a plus. It was almost good enough to distract him from the nagging questions that the mention of the GSA brought up. Almost. 

He really hadn’t thought too much about his own sexuality, or sexuality in general. He’d never even gone out with anyone before. Well, there was the one time he agreed to go to the winter formal with a girl he knew, but that night was a disaster and he only went because his brother had been giving him shit about his social life.

It’s not like he never found anyone attractive before. But now that he thought about it, most of the time when someone in a crowd caught his eye, they happened to be a boy. Like at orientation just a few days ago... But what did that say about his sexuality? How did anyone actually know if they were gay or straight or whatever? And what would you even do with that information once you managed to figure it out? 

“Killua?” 

“Eh?” The sound of Gon’s voice snapped him back to reality and when he looked up he was met with a pair of honey eyes burning into him. 

“What?” He gulped. Had Gon been sitting this close to him the whole time?

“I asked if you were ready to go.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” 

They grabbed their bags and began the trek back to their dorm. The cool night air was a welcome relief from the blush that spread across his face and up his neck.

[thedungeonsbat]

Muggle Love (Chapter 6)

A/N: I know Severus does not own an owl but I wanted to add it so I hope you don't mind. And I haven't edited it that much as I've been busy these days. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

"He did what?" Severus asked Dumbledore, both astonished and angry, when he was unexpectedly called by him late one evening. He was informed that the famous Harry Potter, thirteen now, had blown up his aunt. He made her swell like a balloon apparently.

"Yes, Severus. It is right, but he did not do it willingly." Dumbledore told Severus who still wore a slightly astonished expression, he in turn just scowled. Dumbledore, on the other hand was not as amazed as he was. He was aware of the Minister's opinion upon the matter.

He added, "The Minister is ready to forgive him for he is in danger with Black on the loose… The boy, for the remaining weeks will be staying at The Leaky Cauldron."

"But he could have been spotted! That boy shows no regard to the wizarding world and its secrecy!"

"Severus, there is no need to lose your calm. The boy is still in grave danger, Black will not back down. He is after the boy…He must be taken care of and that is why I asked you to stay at Privet Drive for some time." Dumbledore was now seated in his armchair, he was as easy-going as ever whereas Severus was still grimacing over the happenings.

"But I am curious, Severus," Severus, who couldn't believe Harry's nerve, jerked his head to see Dumbledore. "You planned to be in the Drive that evening, what happened that made you alter your plan?" He asked, his eyebrows raised. He was waiting for an answer from him. Severus broke eye contact, he would not be able to lie to him looking him in his gleaming blue eyes, it all happened the night when the incident with you happened. Did he know? Did he know about you? He was the all-knowing wizard after all.

"I..just got..busy.." Severus replied slowly and in the same old cold voice.

"Busy how? You do not have any essays to check during the break of course." Dumbledore replied cheekily with a small smirk spreading over his lips.

'Ugh, I hate this!' Severus thought but he could not possibly just ignore his question. He knew he could not get away from him now. Dumbledore always gave him this nasty feeling that he knew all that was going on with him which would be obviously, for anyone, uneasy.

"Albus, you of all should know that living in the muggle world is not as easy as it seems. There are...situations..to be managed." He replied trying not to lose his calm.

Dumbledore hummed in agreement but he really did not quite agree, he was expecting some other answer, the truth. "Very well, Severus, if you say so." He said with a sigh which made Severus wonder if Dumbledore really knew, perhaps he has been keeping a close eye on him, he knew from his look that his answer wasn't satisfying enough.

______________

It will soon be time when Severus will have to go to Hogwarts for the next term, being a Professor he had to be there before the term's beginning and the students' arrival. He'd be gone for many long months which meant that you could not see him for all that time. This was gonna be so hard but obviously you did not know about his life in the wizarding world or him being a wizard, you were eagerly looking forward to meeting him again.

You were kept so busy by your work that you barely had time to just go for a walk outside. You began taking your studies more seriously than before, it was not just a degree, it was for your career, your future. Sometimes you wished that things were simpler and easier. You wondered how better life could have been if magic existed. You were, like all the other muggles around you, unaware of the magical world that existed hidden from the eyes of millions.

After what felt like an extremely long and tiring day, you decided to have a walk outside in the park that was located just in front of your building. It was a starry night, it was simply beautiful.

As you stepped outside, a cold wave of the soothing breeze hit you gently making you shiver slightly.

The night was cold and darker than usual, the starry sky reminded you of him. Everything felt like him, you had even changed into his t-shirt. You occasionally wore it because it felt very relaxing, you always felt as if it all had happened just yesterday.

You sat on a bench and stayed like that for a long time. You did not want to get up now, it was so quiet there, no one to disturb you and you knew that there was nowhere else you'd rather be at the moment. This was one of the very few moments you felt truly peaceful and calm at your heart. The last time was in Severus' arms.

You slowly closed your eyes and felt the gentle air blow and listened the rustling of the leaves. It was so calm and pleasant, almost magical.

Your eyes closed, a blurred vision appeared and you saw him there. It became more usual now, every time you would sit to relax or decide to do nothing for a while, you thought of him. You wanted to contact him again. But there was no way, he did not seem to own a telephone and if he did, you did not know his number.

You opened up your eyes, feeling way more relaxed than before and sighed, it was time to go and rest, tomorrow would be a long day too.

But just then an idea popped in your head. You were gonna contact Severus first.

________________

It was almost time for Severus to go, go back to his life as Professor Snape, 'the most terrifying one at Hogwarts' as many of his students called him. He did not like to live among muggles but at the same time did not like being annoyed by those 'dunderheads' he taught.

He had already prepared what was gonna be taught to the students, the first years' syllabus was particularly hard to make as many of them seemed to make a mess of very simple potions too. 'The wreck they make', he muttered while at work.

Many events of the ex-first years and even some of the senior students causing a wreck all the time reoccured to him. Checking their essays and marking them was another hard job, going through all the junk many of them wrote just to fill the parchments seemed to be the only real way of passing the time there. While the other professors enjoyed the feast and had a laugh, he would finish off early and make his way to his quarters and read some book, mostly Potions or Dark Arts related.

He went to bed and within no time, fell asleep. However, before sleeping his thoughts wandered and he thought of you. You were probably the last person he thought of before sleep (Psychology says that the person you think of before falling asleep is either the cause of you happiness or sorrow).

The next morning, he opened his front door to take the newspaper but he also noticed something else. It had never happened before. He received a letter.

Not some owl post a normal wizard would receive but a letter in his mailbox, no one has ever done that before. For a second he thought it was just a mistake but as he took out the letter from the mailbox, he was a bit surprised. It was indeed a letter addressed to him in a very beautiful and neat handwriting. It was from you.

He should have known but why would you mail him?

He went inside, the Daily Prophet and your letter in his hands. He placed the paper on the table and sat down on his armchair to read your letter. Just holding it in his hand made his heart feel warmer. He opened it gently, careful not to tear it from anywhere.

What was written in the letter, made him feel something new because no one has thought of him in this way. Never in his life has anyone had the urge to see him again like you did except for the times he was needed by Dumbledore.

It read;

"Dear Severus,

I know you definitely were not expecting a letter from me but I have been wanting to write to you. I noticed you did not own a telephone, so I figured I will just have to mail you. You should buy a telephone though, it's easier to stay in touch with people. Let me know your number if you do buy one.

I have been very busy lately and I know you must be busy with your work too but I hope you find time to fulfil a humble request of mine. I wanted to invite you over for dinner at my place as a 'thank you'. Now, don't frown, you told me not to thank you again and again but I would love it if you'd come. It's not some sort of payback but just a friendly treat from me. I might not be able to make some tasty soup as yours but I am certain you'll enjoy it as I have a speciality in cooking myself.

I understand if you're busy and that is why I thought it best if you chose the time of the meeting and it is fine if you do not want to come over. I won't feel bad but just send me a reply.

Your friend,

(Y/N) (Y/L/N).

P.S. I have really missed you."

There was a little smiley face drawn at the end and also your address was mentioned in case he decided to come.

He smiled as he folded the letter and put it on the table. 'She missed me.' It was more of a question than a statement in his mind. How could someone miss a person like him, besides your last time together wasn't so pleasant either. He was amazed yet delighted to receive a letter, or rather an invitation.

Your request kept him befuddled, should he go or not? You were not asking much but what would he say? He wasn't the 'dinner-type' guy, he did not like socialising with muggles, at least.

He sighed, he was aware of the fact that he, himself, could not really help thinking about you. He had missed you too but he would probably never in his lifetime admit it. He never wanted to accept that you had some impact left on him. Even though he found you utterly annoying, he kinda enjoyed your presence and all the silly things you thought of.

He made up his mind. He would go, just out of courtesy. He was not gonna dine with you because he might regret his decision everyday at Hogwarts if he did not. He won't go because he looks forward to meeting you or he wants to see you for the last time before his long months at the school among those students who seemed to hate him. He did not find you even a teensy-bit less annoying than the others, of course not, or so he told himself.

He decided to write back to you, now. He went up to his study and took his quill and parchment. He carefully dipped the tip of his quill in the black ink and began writing. He was careful not to blot the parchment anywhere, his writing was neat and all his words seemed to be perfectly arranged.

A smile spread over his face as he finished with the letter. He was actually writing to you, accepting your offer and he was actually gonna see you soon.

_______________

The following days you kept waiting for his letter. You also doubted if he even got the letter. Maybe he would have never even read it, he never seemed to check his mail. Or worse, what if he was ignoring it?

In the day, you would attend all your classes and sometimes had spare time to give to your friends. Carl seemed very upset that you had been too busy for him but you had to study hard. You tried giving him a bit extra attention after his complain, you went out to have a walk and talked about your hectic schedule. He asked about the reason for your unusual 'happiness' (after the stay at Severus') but you only blushed and he chuckled. You always tried to avoid questions about him.

Every now and then Severus would pop in your thoughts and distract you. His silky, cold voice would echo in your ears and you were desperate to hear it again. You wanted to feel his air again. You longed to see him but you, just like him, never admitted it.

Three days after the night you had written to him, your long waiting came to an end. His reply came but it wasn't some ordinary post, it was an owl which delivered it. A black owl. You had never seen one of the like before. And that too, in broad daylight.

There was a roll tied to its feet, you let it in and untied the roll of paper. It was indeed his letter but why did he send it by an owl? How did he even manage doing so?

[secndlife]

sun&moon | 1.

pairing: jackson x reader x jinyoung

genre: soulmate!au, college!au, fluff, angst, eventual smut? everything basically

summary:  she has always trusted fate. she was destined to someone and she was determined to find it. she found herself wrapped in hands that feel warm like the sun, but that belonged to someone else. she keeps on looking, only to find out that her fate had been watching over her, just like the moon.

word count: 3.3k

playlist

masterlist

It was midterm season and t was cold. Not ‘I’ll freeze to death’cold, but ‘holy shit it’s really cold’ cold - and that made you lazy and grumpy whenever you weren’t in bed. All you wanted was to get out of this lesson, grab a caramel macchiato and hit home. You felt so tired, all your lessons were draining you. You loved you major, you did. Public relations was something you’ve always wanted to do but now, being so close to graduating, things were chaotic. You had to work on your final thesis and still pass all these classes. All you wanted was to graduate and finally be hired full time at your internship - you were working at a small music company as their public relations assistant.

As your professor started to gather his belongings, he said, “Well everyone, don’t forget to read the chapter assigned on the syllabus for this week’s lesson and write down the essay about how social media can change the perspectives on PR. Thank you and see you next week for our midterm.”

“Oh my God! Is the midterm next week? Fuck! I totally forgot that!” your friend Jisoo started freaking out while you two left the classroom.

“Yes baby,” you laughed, “I can send you the summary I made for this subject and we can study together next week, I don’t mind.”

“Oh really? Urgh, I love you, you’re the best,” she said with a smile and giving you a side hug. Jisoo was one of your best friends ever since you started university. You two hit off instantly after meeting at orientation week and next thing you know you’re renting an apartment together at one of the campus’ buildings.

“Yeah, I know. Do you have another class or you’re ready to go home?” You hoped she was ready to go home so you two could have a movie night with a lot of food.

“I can’t. I’m supposed to meet up with Mark for this other project we have.”

“Oh, does this project have anything to do with making out until your lips fall off?” you said while you bumped her shoulder. Mark and Jisoo sort of had a thing. No one really knew how to label what they had, but it was definitely something and it was clear for everybody.

“Please, that’s your deal with Jackson. Anyways, we’re just meeting at the cafeteria, it’s really about a class project.”

“Hm sure, miss.” You gave her a side eye. “And about Jackson, we haven’t hooked up in a while. We’re nothing, especially compared to you and Mark. We just have fun when we’re drunk or bored, honestly.”

“Yeah sure, baby. If that’s what you tell yourself before you sleep with him… Anyways, I have to go. Mark’s texted me already. Don’t wait up ok?” she said, winking at you while she left off to meet Mark. Jisoo could deny as much as she wanted, but she would never be able to fool you - and she was falling fast for him.

You waved her goodbye and started making your way towards your place. You took off your earphones and put on a song just to distract you from the cold weather. Even tho you weren’t a fan of being outside in the cold, you could use a walk. It was calming around campus, especially since it was already past 6pm and most people were off class. You walked slowly, looking up at the sky and at all the people around you. You spotted a couple, maybe around your age and wondered if they had their tattoos already.

It was common knowledge: on the morning of your 23rd birthday, you’ll get a tattoo on your wrist, your soulmate’s initial. They’ll have your first letter tattooed on their opposite wrist; there are a few rare cases where the tattoo is on the same wrist, but those are truly uncommon. You never even heard of one. And if you still haven’t found your soulmate within a year, you’ll get the first letter of their surname next to it.

In your group of friends, Mark and Jaebum were the ones who had a tattoo already. Mark had a “J” on his left wrist. He had a thing already with Jisoo even before it happened so they just kept on going. Jisoo’s tattoo was a few months away, but she seemed pretty sure she’d get an “M” on her right wrist, even tho they weren’t “official”. Jaebum, on the other hand, had a “W” on his right wrist, but he hasn’t found anyone to match. That didn’t stop him from kissing a bunch of girls at frat parties just to get over his ex though. She turned 23 before he did and when her tattoo wasn’t his initial, she broke up with him. He understood, he knew it could happen, but that doesn’t mean it was easy to get over her.

The next one to get a tattoo would be Jackson, his birthday only a week away. You two had a unique relationship - ever since you met at a party in freshman year you have got along really well; having similar personalities made it 10 times easier. You’re both social butterflies, funny, touchy and dramatic - you were just a tone lower than Jackson. That caused you to be close to one another and to flirt constantly. Jackson had always some smart comment about you and you never backed off. After a few months of shameless flirting and sexual tension, you two started hooking up in your second year at university. It happened first at a frat party when you two were drunk and horny. It was no big deal - honestly, everything with Jackson was carefree. The sex was great, intense, and there were no strings attached. You two had no reason to call it off or to start anything serious so you just left it at that, hooking up whenever you felt like it and it never affected your friendship. He hooked up with other girls sometimes, but you honestly didn’t care. You knew you were free to do the same, you just wasn’t a big fan of one night stands.

Most of your friends knew and it wasn’t a big deal for them either. After it first happened, you got home and talked to Jisoo about it. 

“Well, he’s hot and nice and you two get along really well. I honestly don’t see why not. You’re young, pretty and single. You should be having fun, you know?”

“I mean, yeah, I know. I’m just a bit… unsure? I don’t know, Jackson’s really intense and I don’t wanna feel it too much?” you didn’t wanna fall for him, not at all.

“Then don’t. Look, don’t make a big deal out of this. You two just hooked up. Make this as fun and not serious as it can be so it would be beneficial for both of you. I’m pretty sure Jackson’s not looking for a relationship right now either so.” You thought about it and Jisoo was right, you had nothing to lose - besides, it would be nice to have good sex with a good guy whenever you felt like it.

A few days later you told Jinyoung about it. He was your best friend since God knows when. You two grew up together and your moms were friends so that lead to you being friends as well. You were having coffee together when you said with a tone as normal as it could be, “I’ve slept with Jackson.”

He was taking a sip of his drink and he pretty much choked on it: “You what?”

“Yeah, I mean, you could see it coming right?” You stared at him waiting for him to say something while he looked a bit uncomfortable.

“I guess. How was it? Are you two a thing now?” he asked, not really wanting to know the answer and looking everywhere but at you.

“No, he’s all about being a free spirit right now and I don’t want a boyfriend. So I guess we’re just gonna have random sex,” you laughed.

Jinyoung gave you a smile, shaking his head, “Lucky you then.”

After a few minutes of walking, you finally reached home. You were welcomed by your cat, Winnie. You and Jisoo adopted her as soon as you moved in, both being cat lovers. She was a Tonkinese with light brown fur, darker face and ears and the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen. She curled up at your leg while you walked in: “Hey girl”, you said, patting her head. She purred, appreciating the soft touch. You left your shoes and the entry and finally made your way towards your bedroom while Winnie followed you.

You dropped your things at your writing desk and then went to your bathroom. You couldn’t wait to take a nice relaxing bath and since Jisoo was busy with Mark, you’d take that time alone for some self-care. It was Friday and you weren’t in a party mood, so you decided to open a bottle of wine and just drink it by the tub. You turned on the water, feeling it with your hand to make sure it was just the right temperature. After drying your hands, you went to the kitchen to get the bottle of wine that was just waiting for you. You got the glass and after opening the bottle you went back to the bathroom; by then the tub was almost half full and you wanted nothing more than to spend the next hour in there, drinking your wine and relaxing among the bubbles. You plugged your phone on the speaker and put on one of your favorite songs. You got one of your bath bombs out of the cabinet and proceeded to undress. When the tub was full, you got your hair up in a bun and dropped the bath bomb in the water. Immediately, the jasmine smell started to spread all over your bathroom and that made you feel calmer. The water was filled with bubbles that had all shades of pink, which was just what you needed. You got your glass of wine on the tub border and went inside. The water felt so good, you could feel it’s warmth spreading all over your body and starting to relax you.

With soft music playing on the background, you started to let your mind wander. You started to think about this soulmate thing. Your 23rd birthday was a few months away and you’d finally get your tattoo. You were not sure what that’d mean for you. You were an intense and curious person and the possibility of not finding your soulmate killed you. You wanted that, you wanted that bond and you wanted to live what you were destined to live. You were scared of ending up alone, with two letters on your wrist that you’d never find out who they belonged to. The possibility of falling in love with someone who’s not your soulmate is equally terrifying. That’s why you didn’t have any serious relationships in the past - you didn’t want to fall for someone who could not be your person. Sure, people ended up with their non-soulmates all the time, but that’s not what you want for yourself. When you fall in love, you want to do it with the right person. But how could you be sure? In theory, you couldn’t. You could find someone who’s theoretically your match, but maybe he’s not. Those who were able to find their matches, they say you just know - you feel it. But there was no way to prove it, you couldn’t be sure of it in any means other than your feelings and your heart.

After three glasses of wine, a bunch of songs and wrinkled hands, you decided it was time to get out of the tub. The wine got you a bit tipsy so you were just gonna heat up some leftover pizza and hit the bed while some movie was playing on the TV. You got your towel wrapped around your body and made your way back to your bedroom. You felt way more relaxed now. You dried off your body and got into one of your oversized t-shirts that you usually wore to sleep. Winnie was lying comfortably in your bed so you petted her tail, “I’ll be back in a second, I’ll just grab some food and I’ll come to cuddle you”. She purred in agreement and you went to the kitchen so you could finally eat something. You took the pizza out of the fridge and put it on the microwave. Once it was done, you got your plate and got back to the bedroom. You poured yourself another glass of wine and started looking for something to watch on Netflix. You settled for one of your favorite movies, “Love, Rosie”. You’ve watched it countless times and could never get tired of it. It always made you cry because you loved this idea that if two people are supposed to be together, they’ll be together in the end, no matter what. That’s what you hoped happened to you too, you hoped you’d end up with your soulmate after all.

By the time the movie ended and the second romcom you decided to watch, alongside with the bottle of wine, it was almost 11pm and you decided to go to bed. First, you went to check on your phone, who was long lost since you’ve got home. You picked it up and was greeted by some texts from Jackson:

[10:30pm] Jackson: what are you doing on this friday night beautiful

[10:31pm] Jackson: I wanna cuddle

[10:32pm] Jackson: can I come over? I swear I won’t try anything besides kissing you and cuddling

[10:45pm] Jackson: answer meeeee

You laughed at his texts - Jackson could be needy sometimes. You thought about his request - well, you had nothing to lose and you could use some strong arms cuddling you to sleep so you texted him back.

[10:50pm] you: wow friday night and you’re texting me about cuddling? why aren’t you at a party?

It didn’t even take him 2 minutes to reply.

[10:51pm] Jackson: don’t think i didn’t try! but there’s not even a single party on this campus today

[10:51pm] Jackson: besides, I’m too tired to party today and I wanna cuddle

[10:52pm] Jackson: so, can I come over or what?

[10:53pm] you: hm I guess. I could use some ok cuddles for the night.

You knew he’d whine at you calling his cuddles ok. That was a part of your relationship, this bickering, it added fuel to the dynamic.

[10:53pm] Jackson: ok??? ok??? my cuddles are fucking great.

[10:54pm] Jackson: anyways be there in five

[10:54pm] you: hurry up i’ve had a whole bottle of wine and I’m sleepy

In less than 10 minutes Jackson was ringing the doorbell, his dorm being really close to yours. You got out of bed and made your way to the entrance, Winnie following you. You opened the door and were greeted by a smiley Jackson. He was wearing sweatshirts and black adidas pants. He looked really hot in simple clothes like that.

“Hi,” he said, making his way towards you and giving you a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi,” you replied while giving him some room so he could come inside. “Can’t believe you couldn’t find a place to be tonight.”

“I did, here.” He closed the door behind him and all of the sudden Winnie showed up at his feet. “Hey pretty lady,” he said patting her head. “I swear this cat likes me more than she likes everyone else. She cuddles me whenever I come around.”

You rolled your eyes at him, “She does that to everyone Jackson, don’t be so full of yourself.” You started walking towards your bedroom and you heard his footsteps chasing after you. Suddenly, you felt strong arms being wrapped around your waist.

“Bullshit, she never does that to Jaebum,” Jackson said while he rested his head on your shoulder.

“That’s because Jaebum smells like his cats and Winnie doesn’t like that. She’s jealous,” you said, laughing.

Once you’ve reached your bedroom, you got out of Jackson’s grip and plopped onto the bed. The man was still standing at the doorway, staring at you with a pout while he took off his red hoodie, revealing a simple black shirt underneath. “What’s with the face, Jacks?”

“I know she likes me better, don’t lie to me.” He could be such a drama king sometimes and it was really amusing to watch and bicker back. Tonight though, after a bottle of wine and an exhausting day, you just wanted to sleep. 

“Jacks, please, I’m really sleepy. Just get in here.”

“Well, since you’re begging.” You smiled lightly when he laid by your side. You were facing each other and you felt his hand coming to rest on your hips, “I’ve kinda missed you.”

“Missed me or my body?” you said, teasing him.

“Stop, you know it’s not like that,” Jackson had a cute pout on his face.

You gave him a light peck on the lips, “I know, it’s just funny to see your face when I say stuff like that.”

You stroked his hair and he closed his eyes. “You look really good with dark-brown hair, you should stick to it.”

“I look good with every hair color, baby. But thanks,” he hummed softly, feeling your hands over his locks. You laughed. Jackson was such a confident person, so sure of himself. You admired that. And he also made you feel more confident yourself since he was always dropping praises your way.

You felt his hands slowly rising your t-shirt up so he could stroke your thighs with the tip of his fingers, “You know, my birthday is next Friday. It will be my 23rd.”

“Hm, I’m aware.” You closed your eyes, feeling his soft warm touch against your skin. You could also feel his face closer to your, his breath smelt like mint and it made you wanna taste it.

“You know,” you felt his hand making its way from your thighs to your cheek. “I’m gonna get my tattoo in a week,” his lips brushing against yours lightly. “And I wouldn’t mind at all if it was your initial.”

Next thing you know, his lips are fully on yours. They taste just like they smell, minty. Nevertheless, they feel warm. Everything about Jackson was warm. His touch, his kisses, his heart. He was so intense it felt like fire, and sometimes you were scared you’d get burned. You felt his tongue at your bottom lip and then it was against yours. The kiss was passionate, just like him. His hand then moved to the back of your neck as he pressed you further against him. You hummed in response, your hands against his chest, grabbing at his shirt.

His lips then moved towards your neck. On his way down, he kissed your jawline and your jugular, making you whimper.

“You said you wouldn’t try anything tonight,” you said while you felt his tongue against that soft spot he knew all too well at your neck.

“Say the word and I’ll stop. Besides, I’m still just kissing you,” he said and then bit at your neck softly, earning a low moan.

“Jacks…” You were literally exhausted and all you wanted was for him to hold you while you fell asleep. You grabbed his face gently and moved it towards yours, giving him a final kiss.

He smiled, “Fine, c’mere then.” He pulled you closer, making you rest your head on his chest. It felt warm and safe there and you started drifting away, sleepiness washing over you. “I mean it you know.”

You looked at him, half-lidded eyes, “Huh?”

“I wouldn’t mind if your initial showed up at my wrist next week.” He had such a genuine smile across his handsome face and it kinda made your heart melt.

You smiled back at him, eyes closed and ready to fall asleep, “Neither would I.”

a/n: ok so… my first experience in writing? I don’t even know how this “ok i’m gonna write” thing started tbh. I know I have a huge tendency in not finishing things up, but I have so much planned for this series, so please, bear with me. I’ll try my best within my limits ok? I wanna thank three girls who helped me a lot;  @yoongitalks, one of my inspirations, my friend and also my beta. thank you for putting up with me and for accepting my insane request of joining me on this mess. i love you to the moon and back.  @jugyoem, my baby, the amazing artist who did the cover for this fic. thank you for supporting me through everything. I love you a lot! lastly, my music expert, @yyugyx, who helped me with the playlist. can’t thank you enough for always saving me with your music knowledge. love you! anyways, feedback is always appreciated and my askbox is always open. 

[lumo-arcanorum]

IN PRAISE OF MMM

This is another repost, but from a blog I came across that I enjoyed. Wordpress blog formats are hard to track together, so I’m also reposting this here. 

This is taken from a 2018 post by The Kite’s Cradle, a blog for a chaos magicikan and self-identified  urban druid. It’s an interesting read into the life of an actual living chaos magickian. 

This is also relevant to me in that I’m sort of inspired to take another stab at MMM, but in my own way. I’m working on an alternative liber to Carroll’s exercise. We’ll see where that goes. 

OCTOBER 9, 2018 THE KITE 1 COMMENT

I like to see a Liber Null that’s been well used. Although chaos magic has moved on since Pete Carroll wrote the seminal chaos magic book Liber Null, chaos magicians owe Pete a huge debt of gratitude for Liber MMM, the ‘studentship syllabus’ for theIlluminates of Thanateros Novice training program. And this section of his book has really stood the test of time as an introductory training programme of magic. Not that you need it, of course.

He adapted the Yoga exercises of Aleister Crowley’s Book 4: Mysticism (part 1). This in turn was appropriated from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Read these books and you’ll notice the repurposing of the exercises from the “…system by which the practitioner can directly realize his or her puruׅṣa, the soul or innermost conscious self, through mental practices.”(Sutras, p. xlvii) through Crowley’s Thelemic “aims of religion” to the Mind Control exercises of MMM, where “to work magic effectively, the ability to concentrate the attention must be built up until the mind can enter a trance-like condition.” (Null, p. 14).

As I’ve remarked elsewhere, when repurposing a practice it really does matter when you consider the consequences. The What For is important. In this case MMM marks the beginning of Carroll’s growing reduction of ‘spirituality’ to ‘getting good at magic.’ In doing so the baby of Illumination/Enlightenment/Liberation disappears into the bushes with the bathwater.

What makes it worse is that this impoverishment of the Great Work of Magic is committed merely in the name of attaining trance states, often called ‘gnosis’ by chaos magicians. Now excuse me if I point out that trance states are about as difficult as putting on a hat. Get into self-hypnosis, brainwave entrainment, Silva Method or any number of other things and you’ll see what I mean.

By ‘get into’ I mean, of course, ‘research and practice.’ With the emphasis on ‘practice.’ Our belief systems matter less than our practice systems. Occultists are notorious for owning the books, reading the articles, having the debates and not getting down to enough solid practice.

Patanjali required practice: “practice is the effort to be fixed in concentrating the mind.” (Sutra I.14) The whole project requires dedication to practice. Meanwhile in Crowley space, Aleister once chose as his magical mottoPerdurabo: ‘I shall endure to the end,’ or ‘I’ll stick it out.’ Tells you something, eh? Pete Carroll overstates the case when he claims that the magical trances he lists require “fanatical and morbid determination,” but practice there must be. It will be demanding, it will be inconvenient, it will be a pain in the lifestyle. But do it, and magical power will come to you.

Back to that bit about how our belief systems matter less than our practice systems. Echoing the doctrinal disputes of Christendom, occultists often suffer from the ailment of Having The Right Answers. This distracts them from the necessity of racking up the practice time. You’re not a sky pilot until you’ve logged the flight time.

Now I’m not recommending that you fill your every waking moment with ‘praxis,’ the bloatware of magic. A benefit of chaos magic reductionism is that you can restrict yourself to the most economically effective and get most of it done. A few bang-for-the-buck exercises and a simple training program and you’re ahead of the crowd. Weight training starts not with the steroids but with squats, deadlifts, presses and such, the biggest exercises to get you strong quickly.

All you need is a set of exercises and a program. And therein lies another problem with occultists, especially the postmodern variety. They will program-hop, doing Golden Dawn warm-ups then switching to yoga, tryingvipassana for a week, then it’s offerings to the ancestors for a month or so before being ADHD’d by something else. Diet-hopping and program-switching cheat you out of the steady gains offered by sticking out the practice – the promise of Perdurabo. Ask anyone who can pick up twice their bodyweight.

Re-enter Liber MMM. Yes, all right, you’re an experienced magician chasing advanced stuff now. But the basics always count. Use them or lose them and end up falling upside-down through the Abyss of Sophistry and having flamewars on the Internet. Liber MMM is a – not ‘The,’ but ‘a’ – solid program of introductory magical exercises.

So what’s in it? The field of activity in Liber MMM is listed quite clearly under the three headings of Mind Control, Magic and Dreaming. (if you haven’t already done so, now is a good time to fish out your copy of Liber Null. Yes, get one)

In Mind Control, we work quickly through the exercises in the order given such that by the end of the first month we are performing a minimum of 30 minutes of Motionlessness No-Thought (MNT) daily and performing occasional exercises in Magical Trances. This core exercise set is all about developing your concentration and visualization. Motionlessness is about not shifting weight, not scratching those inevitable little itches, and so forth. It’s not about torso movements when you breathe or tics or involuntary eye movements or blinking (if those bother you, shut your eyes). Just sit still. If you gaze at a random spot on the wall for a bit you’ll very soon notice a slight tunnel vision. This is you entering a very light trance. Relax into it and your breathing will slow, swallowing and blinking are inhibited and the itches will become ignorable.

Pick a posture and stick to it. Since you don’t want to be shifting for comfort, pick a posture that’s comfortable in the first place. You may need to attend to your posture — keep it upright — to stop yourself going to sleep.

Breathing: pranayama. There’s a simple technique. In — out. And so forth. There’s not much else to it. If you’re curious about different breathing techniques by all means pick one and use if for a few days. Otherwise, and especially while becoming accustomed to the daily practice, just allow your breathing to deepen and slow naturally. Fancy breathing techniques can wait. No-Thought is an unceasing business. To start with, begin a session by just watching thoughts arise and pass away. Do nothing about them. When you catch yourself fixating on a thought, just drop it.

As you become aware of ‘space’ as it were in your consciousness where no thoughts are, as thoughts arise then simply attend instead to that empty space. From time to time you get some blessed peace, when there are no thoughts to ignore. You’ll probably notice this moment of peace only when it’s over. That empty space will become the arena into which you project visualizations, including sigils. Start with about 15 minutes (time it) daily, and then after a few days of practice add five minutes, and so forth until you’ve got 30-35 minutes practice time daily. Then keep doing that daily. Notice the repetition of the word ‘daily.’ Do not interrupt the dailiness of this practice. MNT more than anything else forges the magician.

That was MNT. If to start with you feel that you’re not doing enough training, do some Object Concentration as well. 5 minutes at a time is plenty. Remember that business of gazing at a spot on the wall? Do that, and keep bringing the gaze back to it and holding the tunnel vision effect. It’s healthy that the eyes wander — just bring them back.

With both, write in your diary what time you started, what time you finished, and any salient features.

After a month or two, if we have not already done so, we investigate works of Metamorphosis. I consider Metamorphosis a neglected aspect of Liber MMM and personally regard it as being equally important as MNT. Simply swap out habits to start with.Need help? Start here.

In Magic, I suggest adopting one or two banishing rituals as soon as possible. In this context, most banishings are simply exercises to settle you down into the moment’s work of magic or to bring you back to normal afterwards. Sigil work and any other magical work is also good, including some sort of sortilege divination – cards, runes, stones and bones or somesuch equally simple. Liber MMM explains sigilization adequately so don’t overthink it: just decide what you want, scribble and go.

In Dreaming, the practice of keeping a diary next to the bed seems to convince your mind that you really do take this seriously, and it will oblige by producing material to put in that diary. It’s not usually worthwhile to ask for meanings of dreams: I don’t believe in universal dream symbols and expect instead that our own individual network of symbolism will explain our dreams best.

I absolutely recommend recording the activities of Liber MMM in a diary. Under the general heading of the day’s date, each activity should be timed, and it should be written up such that a reader could recreate that activity themselves from the notes given. The first time a ritual is described, it should be written in full, with any symbols or technical flourishes explained fully. Thereafter it is sufficient to mention repeats of the ritual by name and add ‘as before,’ expanding only upon any differences from earlier performances.

RESULTS

Both record and acknowledge results. Recording contemporaneously both an activity and its results simply helps us to know the truth of what happened and not to be fooled by psychological heuristics including so-called tricks of memory. Acknowledging results means celebrating our victories. Some magicians handicap their morale by being unwilling to accept successes and need reminding that success is matching actual result to recorded Intent, regardless of exactly how the result manifested. They sometimes need reminding to look out for results of divinations also.

In Mind Control the result is not of nice long periods of No-Thought (nice when it happens though) so much as the abilities, manifested over time, to drop easily into inhibitory trance states, to close down unhelpful streams of thought while under pressure and to concentrate on what is currently important.

Early experiments with Metamorphosis manifest a growing comfort with behaviours which we may have used to find unfamiliar and perhaps threatening, and may give us the clue that behavioural identity is not fixed.

In Magic there’s nothing quite like totting up your enchantments done and ticking off the successes to demonstrate to yourself that your magic works and that you’re not just fooling yourself. Likewise with divinations that turn out to be accurate.

In Dreaming work the results consist of enhanced knowledge of our own symbol system and a more relaxed relationship with our own out-of-consciousness workings.

All in all, good results in these practices help develop confidence in the whole magical endeavour and a no-nonsense attitude to practice that comes as a refreshing contrast to that of many others in the magical community. So if you do this for six months – not two weeks or two months, but SIX months – you will have laid a firm foundation ofskill, consistency and durability as a magician. Any dabbler can do this for a fortnight, but in the month on month daily grind the will of the magician is forged. Thank you Pete for MMM.

Original blog post is here. 

[carmenlire]

Higher than the Big Trees

read on ao3

“Shit, shit, shit,” Magnus mutters as he hears his alarm going off through the fog of sleep.

He’s in bed, covers tucked up to his chin, head very firmly under the pillow that can’t quite muffle the chorus to Stir Fry. Magnus raises his head from underneath the pillows and it only takes him three tries to turn off his phone screen, a minor miracle considering he’s the polar opposite of a morning person.

He lays there for a minute, thinking over the past twenty-four hours. He’d had a run in with the Alec Lightwood.

Alexander.

Well, two actually, Magnus muses. While it had only been a second, they’d almost bumped into each other at Uptown Java yesterday morning.

Even if Magnus wasn’t an ardent fan of Lightwood’s and followed him on all major social media, he’s have known the singer was back in town by Luke’s countenance alone. Magnus has been frequenting the coffee shop in Soho for years and there’s always a little extra pep in Luke’s step when he hears from the man who might as well be his son. When Alec is in town, Luke is simply over the moon. It's adorable.

Magnus has picked up all manner of little tidbits about the Lightwood siblings throughout the years and meeting the man in question had only piqued his interest further. Magnus knew Alec was a stunning specimen, but nothing had prepared him for seeing him in person. Even if Alexander had looked like he was recovering from a three day bender, nothing could mask the sheer beauty of the man. It was just as well that he’d walked out of Uptown Java yesterday without a second glance because Magnus had found himself tongue-tied in a way he never had before.

So imagine his surprise and delight when none other than Lightwood had ducked into a dingy diner last night, looking far too good in a denim button-up and ripped skinny jeans that showed off his body to advantage.

Let’s be real, he could wear a paper sack and make it couture.

Magnus had been drinking far too many cups of coffee and grading papers that were frankly mediocre, despairing over the future of academia, when he’d glanced up and almost swallowed his tongue.

He’d played it cool and just offered a little smile when their eyes had met, but he couldn’t resist stopping by Alec’s table on his way out the door. It had surprised him that Alec could hold a conversation, if he was being honest. With any other person who possessed such good looks and seemed to revel in their playboy image, Magnus would have dismissed them as all fluff, no substance.

Maybe he’s a little judge-y, but he has the world experience to back it up.

But the two of them had sat in that little hole-in-the-wall diner for hours in a cracked vinyl booth-- in an alarming shade of red-- and talked about everything from Germany’s pop culture in the early twentieth century to how incredible of a show Brooklyn Nine Nine was and Magnus hadn’t been bored. He’d been on the edge of his seat, enthralled with the man sitting across from him who liked vanilla milkshakes and had a penchant for blushing.

While it had pained him a little to leave, it had been almost three in the morning and Magnus was apparently cursed to have Friday morning classes until he died of Early Worm Syndrome.

Magnus couldn’t find it in himself to regret last night-- this morning?-- though. It was six o’clock now and he’d managed a lousy two and a half hours of sleep, but now that the fog of the dreamless was receding, he was energized. Apparently, Alexander gave everyone a pep in their step.

Magnus stood up from bed, getting ready for the day. He showered using his signature sandalwood products and decided on one of his Victorian-inspired outfits. He might have gone a little dramatic on the makeup, but he’d never met a highlighter that didn’t suit him and he was partial to that shade of gold eyeliner.

Leaving the house with exactly eight minutes to spare, Magnus reflected wryly that he needed to meet celebrities more often-- maybe then he wouldn’t be perpetually running out of the house exactly two minutes behind schedule.

Having left his briefcase and jacket in his office, Magnus strolls along the path that leads to his class’ building, stopping to get a large macchiato, with an extra shot of espresso, on the way. While still early, especially by student’s standards, there are still a fair number of people outside. Some are rushing to class while others have already claimed their spots for the day, studying on blankets in the grass and under huge trees that will be a lifesaver once the heat hits in a few hours. There’s a girl riding a skateboard and the clacking of wheels over cement cracks accompanies the chirping of birds. It’s damn near idyllic and Magnus takes a sip of his coffee and let’s Columbia sink into his bones for the thousandth time since he first accepted his teaching position.

Magnus has been teaching full time for five years, with the last year doubling as professor and chair of the history department. Before that, he dabbled in student teaching while getting his undergrad and Ph.D. at Stanford and Oxford, respectively. He’s the youngest Chair in Columbia’s history and was insufferable about the promotion for weeks. He’s only twenty-nine but he’s decades older in terms of career projection. It’s a heady feeling that hasn’t dissipated, even after almost a year.

A few students greet him as they walk past and Magnus smiles, catching up with a few who he’ll see early next week in his senior-level seminar. Magnus’s reputation in the history department, in fact on campus in general, precedes him. It's stellar. He takes great pride in being one of the most well-liked professors at Columbia and works hard to maintain his outstanding reputation. That means learning all of his students’ names, being a dynamic, attentive, and sharp professor, and always being willing to go the extra mile for students who need it-- and who put in the work to warrant it.

Magnus walks into class and it’s already buzzing. A few people throw out, “hey Professor Bane,” and he smiles and acknowledges them before setting his coffee down-- after one last sip-- and logging into the computer. He catches snippets of conversation, most of which revolve around their projected midterm grades, and Magnus laughs to himself and raises a brow as he overhears a wild tale about a keg, a boy, and a misplaced thong.

Some things never change.

Students continue to file in and exactly on time, Magnus begins class.

He walks over to the front of the room with the stack of midterms in hand.

He raises a brow, asking, “Wanting these are we?”

Everyone nods, some in resignation and some in anticipation.

Handing them back alphabetically, Magnus reviews the essays. “Overall, I was impressed with your midterms. As freshman, you are just starting to acquaint yourselves with college-level work and, for the most part, were successful. I’ve written in a few of your blue books to come see me during my office hours. If you earned less than a seventy percent, I do want to urge you to drop by. We’ll discuss your exam in more detail and hopefully hammer out what went awry this round.

“For those wondering, there’s no curve. The highest grade was a ninety-four and the lowest-- well. No need to disclose the lowest score,” Magnus continues with a cheeky grin.

“While grading these, it looks like there was some confusion on France’s role leading up to the WWI. I want to briefly review that and answer any questions you all might have before we move on to the next section in the syllabus. Any questions?”

“Remember, if you got under a seventy percent on the midterm, come see me! My office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays noon to three. If that doesn’t work out, email me and we’ll figure out a time together. Have a good weekend,” Magnus calls out to the students packing up and already leaving, no doubt tuning his voice out as soon as he called an end to class.

The class has a capacity of thirty and twenty-one showed up this morning. Not terrible for Friday at eight in the morning, Magnus reflects and swallows the last of his now-cold macchiato.

He throws the cup in the garbage, and turns around to see a handful of students lingering, obviously aiming to talk to him before he leaves. He meets with all of them, speaking for a few minutes about questions over the lecture or clarifying comments on the midterm. Once it’s just him in the classroom, he picks up the few exams from students who had skipped and walks down the doorway and out into the New York sunshine.

Campus is definitely more lively now that’s it’s approaching midmorning and Magnus glances at his watch.

Only two more classes, a few student sessions, and a department meeting to go and then he’s done until Monday morning. Thank God. Magnus loves his job with all his heart, but he's tired as shit. Those two hours of sleep are catching up to him. He needs more caffeine or he's definitely going to fall asleep, listening to one of the junior professors ramble on a tangent for forty-five minutes about a topic that literally no one else in the department cares about. It's exhausting on the best of days and Magnus doesn't have the patience he usually possesses in spades to deal with imbecilic colleagues.

Magnus sits down at a cozy table and grabs a menu, quickly scanning through it. While this place is usually too busy to catch a table during lunch hours, most students try their best to get off campus and forget that they're even in college once Thursday night rolls around. The campus’ lunch hot spot, Basil's Cafe, is deserted this afternoon. It's just him, a student that looks either on the brink of discovery or abject failure, and a mother with two kids who are enthusiastically painting their table with ketchup.

Magnus can see the waitress walking over in his peripheral when a man flings himself down in the chair opposite him, looking broody even at a distance in his all black ensemble. At least it's designer, Magnus thinks, equal parts amused and curious as what could have warranted such a reaction.

“College students are stupid. All of them. They’re in college and don’t even know how to conjugate gustar? How the hell did they even get accepted into Columbia. Idiotas,” one of Magnus’s reluctantly favorite people mutters. Magnus just lazily looks up, pleasant expression pasted onto his face.

“Beats me, dear. At least your students know that Barack Obama was the president last year and not during the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.”

Raphael throws him a commiserating look before they’re both laughing. Magnus truly loves teaching, but damn if some of his students just don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.

“I take it your midterms didn’t go well?”

Raphael scowls. “No. They didn’t. They had to write a short story in Spanish and someone wrote the Spot the Dog story.” He looks at Magnus, unimpressed. “You know the one. ‘Spot likes to play. Spot likes the color red.' I felt like a toddler and they still managed to have a grammatical mistake in almost every sentence.”

Magnus arches a brow. “Considering you’re the best Spanish linguist we have, things are dire indeed for our country's future.”

“They’re freshmen but they look twelve. When did we get so old,” Raphael sighs.

“Darling, speak for yourself. I’m a youthful twenty-nine and still feel like I’m twenty.”

Raphael doesn’t deign to reply and the waitress comes over a minute later to take their orders.

As she’s walking away, Raphael leans forward and gives Magnus a onceover. “What’s with you?”

Magnus just looks at him, expressionless. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re. . . glowing,” Raphael says in distaste.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’ve let me talk about how irritating my students can be with only minimal accusations about my teaching ability. You’re going easy on me and I want to know why.”

Magnus looks affronted, glaring at Raphael. “I’m sorry, just because I’m a good friend and let you rant suddenly means I’ve experienced a change of personality? Et tu, Brute?”

Raphael scoffs. “Oh, shut it. What is it? Did you get lucky last night?”

Magnus’s glare deepens. “No, I did not get lucky last night. I’m not the average teenage boy who’s only joy in life comes from sex.”

Raphael looks at him with narrowed eyes. “I’ve listened to you bemoan your life all week since you couldn’t go to Lightwood’s concert. You’ve been in a pit of despair and while it was disgusting to watch, this about-face is even more so.”

Magnus is quiet for a minute while he thinks. He could tell Raphael that he ran into Alec last night and the man wouldn’t tell a soul. But something about that diner interaction strikes Magnus as private and he’s not ready to let anyone else in about his midnight conversation.

He hums. “Well, I graded the freshmen’s exams and with the Obama exception, they all did moderately well. That must have boosted my spirits.”

Raphael mutters, “Whatever,” and their food arrives.

They eat mostly in silence, with the occasional observation or update. Thankfully, there are no more interrogations and the two go their separate ways with a promise to meet up Monday, same time, same place.

Magnus makes it through his afternoon, only rolling his eyes-- discretely of course-- half a dozen times during his departmental meeting. He will never understand why the administration schedules meetings to cover what could be mentioned in an email. In the footnote of an email. It’s a waste of time and leaves everyone annoyed.

He goes back to his office, leaving the door open, and sits down behind his desk. He’s sipping a tumbler of water and thinking about taking a break to mess around on his phone for a bit when someone knocks on his door.

Looking up, he smiles as a student hovers in the doorway.

“Julia, hello. How are you?”

Julia shyly smiles and takes a few hesitant steps into his office. “I’m okay, Dr. Bane. I just had a few questions about the exam you handed back today?”

Magnus keeps the smile on his face and gestures for her to take a seat in one of the chairs facing him. Julia is an excellent student but she’s painfully shy. He wants to make her feel as comfortable as possible as they discuss the midterm-- she’d received a sixty-three percent and he knows she can do better.

They spend the next forty five minutes going over her paper and she asks dozens of questions, from lecture notes to grading clarifications and Magnus is a little taken aback by her enthusiasm and quickness of learning. Reflecting as Julia takes a minute to write down an explanation he’d just given, Magnus knows he shouldn’t be surprised. Because she’s so shy, she refuses to ask any questions during class and so she got a little behind in material. But she’s intelligent as hell and now they have a game plan.

They set up a standing appointment every Friday afternoon for the rest of the semester to go over any questions she might have from the week’s class and Julia looks happier than he’s ever seen her. She leaves his office all smiles, and Magnus sits back in his chair, congratulating himself on a job well done. He finishes his work day answering emails and going over his outline for next week before he calls it a day.

Throwing on his jacket and sliding a few folders in his briefcase, Magnus leaves campus. The sun is still shining and his walk home is uneventful, for the most part. A woman dressed in a smart suit with peep-toe Louboutins if he's not mistaken--and he never is-- catches his eye at a crosswalk and smiles, obviously sending an invitation that Magnus turns down with a little internal sigh. He walks past her and barely feels a tinge of regret. He just wasn't into her, open invitation notwithstanding. It’s been awhile since he’s been in a relationship and even longer since he had a one night stand. The promotion has wreaked havoc with his social life and he knows he needs to get back on that horse soon.

He misses sex. He misses the intimacy that comes not just from mutual orgasms, but by living with someone every day and learning their little quirks that make them so interesting and irresistible.

All of a sudden, an image of hazel eyes that glint with wicked wit and are set in a devilishly handsome face pops into his mind and he laughs a little, rueful. Down boy, he thinks. The chances of him ever meeting Alec again are rare. It had been a minor miracle that they’d ran into each other not once, but twice, yesterday. He’s not so lucky that a spontaneous meeting would happen a third time. Fate is not his friend and he doesn't see that changing anytime soon.

He puts Alexander in a little compartment, shuts it up tight, and continues his walk home.

[sterek]

lols legit i just love me my fluff and mutual pining and just all types of that wonderfulness, even with light angst tbh and i love me my HS Aus or college Aus or Human Aus or anything inbetween lmfao XD Ur brilliant and hope this isn't too much of a bother =D

Sorry it took so long, I got distracted! Here are some recs :) [Sorry if I don’t have a lot of light or human fics, most of my bookmarks are heavy werewolf angst oops. I went through half my bookmarks and this is already too long lol enjy!]

I’ve Been Everywhere With You by Leslie_Knope [61k, E]

“Dude, you should totally come with me.”

“What? Like on the road trip?“

“No, come with me. To Austin. Get out of Beacon Hills.”

Derek paused. “What?” he asked again.

He’s Not Mine by Sunnee [68k, E]

Derek comes home to find an abandoned werebaby on his front porch and Stiles volunteers to help him out. Surprisingly, that is just the beginning of his problems.

302, I Love You by paintedrecs [4k, T]

It was a beautiful summer morning—mid-70s with a light breeze, ideal weather for soaking up the sun without fear of overheating. If anyone asked, that was why Stiles was sitting on his balcony with a book he hadn’t touched in the last half hour and a mug of coffee he’d been absently sipping from, his gaze fixed on the parking lot several stories below.

Coincidentally, one of his neighbors—Hot Dude From 302, not that it was relevant—had chosen the same morning to wash his stupidly flashy Camaro.

Shyft by paintedrecs [6k, T]

Derek finally gave the driver more than a passing glance.

He was roughly Derek’s age and surprisingly handsome, despite the ugly plaid shirt he’d rolled up past his elbows. He had broad shoulders, honey-dark hair, a line of moles trailing enticingly along his cheek, and thick eyelashes framing dark eyes that glittered with humor. And he was laughing at Derek.

***

At the end of a long work day, all Derek wanted was to get home as quickly as possible. When his scheduled ride showed up—distractingly good-looking, driving a beat-up Jeep, and full of interesting conversation—Derek felt like his evening might turn out a whole lot better than he’d expected. Until his trust issues flared back to life, telling him "Stiles” wasn’t everything that he’d seemed.

Lovebitten by LunaCanisLupus_22 [10k, M]

The one where Derek gets bitten by a lovebug and Stiles is the first person he lays eyes on. Hilarity ensues.

Bricks by paintedrecs [8k, T]

“Mornin’, love,“ Derek says, and Stiles freezes in his arms. They haven’t exchanged official I love you’s yet, and Derek seems determined to derail Stiles’s plans to say it first. With fireworks. Or bubble baths. Something epic.

The point is, Derek barely even seems to realize he’s doing it, and it’s driving Stiles crazy.

Or: My first time writing a 5 + 1 fic.

remember my love by bleep0bleep [23k, T]

Stiles wakes up and suddenly the war is over, he’s no longer a penniless mage, and living in an exquisite manor married to the man he’s been in love with for far too long.

“It’ll be fine,” Stiles says gallantly. “I am certain I will just fall in love with my husband all over again, and I will find plenty of joy doing that.” He winks at Derek for good measure.Derek blinks.

ritten in the Stars by Quixoticity [26k, M]

Derek Hale is a lucky guy. He’s got a great family, good friends, and a fulfilling job as a tattoo artist.

He’s also one of the twenty-five per cent of the population born with a soul mark.

He likes his life, but he’s waiting for his soul-match. The odds of meeting them aren’t great but hey, Derek’s a lucky guy. He has faith.

He can’t believe how good his luck really is when one day his soul-match wanders right into his studio, all long limbs and copper eyes. There’s just one problem: Stiles is there to get his soul mark covered up. Permanently.

No Homo by RemainNameless [84k, E]

Stiles’ sophomore year starts something like this:3 FourLokos+ 1 peer-pressuring cat- 1 best bro to end all best bros= 1 Craigslist ad headline that reads "str8 dude - m4m - strictly platonic”.Derek is the fool who replies.

Cross our bridges when we come to them by RemainNameless [103k, M]

The five times Derek called the Sheriff “Dad” on accident and the first time he did it on purpose.

Our Hearts Are Tigers by skoosiepants [7k, T]

This is what Stiles figures out after a week of harboring Isaac: he’s kind of a dick, for a ten-year-old.

Turn a Little Faster by skoosiepants [3k, T]

He shifts back and forth on his feet and tries to psych himself up. He can do this. He’s a badass werewolf, he can totally tell Stiles that they accidentally got werewolf married because—because Stiles was thinking about him, and happened to give him a token of his, uh, affection under the silvery light of the last full moon. Platonic affection, Derek thinks sourly, so he doesn’t get why his wolf feels all warm and fuzzy and bonded all of a sudden.

Honestly, it’s like—why aren’t people accidentally getting werewolf married all the time, if it happens this easily?

Filter Out the Starlight by skoosiepants [12k, T]

“Why are you not more curious about me?” Stiles says when Derek’s got the door half open, sun spilling over the dark wood, dust motes spinning about his legs. Stiles is wearing fabric that hasn’t been invented yet, he’s clutching a smart phone to his chest, and he appeared out of nowhere, like an angel.

Softly, Derek says, “We all have our secrets,” and closes the door.

Or-

A heartbroken Stiles accidentally travels back in time to find his one true love. A harlequin-ish Christmas romance.

Under Yellow Moons by skoosiepants [17k, T]

They stare at each other, half-grinning, and Derek knows it’s definitely the absolute wrong time for this, but he wants. He wants to grin at Stiles over dinner every day for the rest of his life, baffled over yams and Moon Pie Day, and, god, crap, goddamn, when the fuck did he have time to fall in love?

Or

The life and times of Deputy Stiles and Supernatural Foster Dad Derek Hale

Lord knows it would be the first time by uraneia [12k, E]

Stiles is home from Berkeley for the summer, but only because he promised the pack. He’d rather not see Derek, because whatever the thing was that they were doing, they’re not doing it anymore, and it sucks.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a choice. The betas tried a magical remedy for Derek’s melancholy, and now Stiles has a three-year-old who looks like Derek. Stiles doesn’t know how to deal with that, and he definitely doesn’t know how to tell the betas he and Derek were secret fuck buddies for a year and a half.

You Smell Like Mine by bleep0bleep [13k, E]

People talk about the alpha instinct, an alpha’s head being swayed by a nice-smelling omega, or the desire to drop everything and show off. Derek’s never felt any of that. He’s just not that kind of alpha.

Then he meets Stiles.

The Prince and His Painter by Dexterous_Sinistrous [8k, G]

Stiles was always a sick child. He was never supposed to live beyond his infancy—shocking many when he reaches adulthood. With his inevitable death looming over his country, Stiles chooses to accept a successor through marriage. His advisors commission a painter to capture the prince’s likeness in order to advertise him to potential candidates. Only, Derek Hale isn’t like most painters—or humans, for that matter.

Certain Kind of Fool by saraubs [36k, M]

Derek, who has been dragged against his will to the same resort his family visits every summer, is determined to spend the next two and a half months sequestered in his room. His only friend, his sister Laura, is preoccupied with her newly-bonded mate, and doesn’t seem to care about anything but making him happy.

When Derek meets Stiles Stilinski, a sharp-tongued waiter, he thinks that this summer might not be a complete waste of time. There are only two problems: First, Stiles is human. Second, he doesn’t believe in mates.

Painful Maneuvers by saraubs [11k, T]

Still, whether or not the nurses want to hear it, Derek has some serious issues with the way Stiles skates around the ward, upending instruments and scattering papers and chewing on pens. His scrubs never fit right and are always riding up to show patches of smooth, pale skin and his hair is frankly pornographic. It’s just so…unprofessional.

Stiles is a hyperactive Obstetrician. Derek is a grumpy Midwife. It’s true love (and babies!).

little spoon by bibliosexual [6k, T]

To save money while attending college in NYC, Stiles and Derek decide to rent one tiny apartment together. With one bed.

you know you’re on my mind by bibliosexual [16k, T]

If there’s one thing Derek’s learned in life, it’s that crushing on someone who lives on an entire other fucking continent is probably a bad idea.

Put Down in Words by paintedrecs [203k, M]

“Oh,” Stiles said, his voice coming out low and breathy, “fuck me.”

“I don’t think that’s on the syllabus, but we can check to see if there’s a spot open in any of his classes,” Scott said, grinning.

“This isn’t an actual professor, though,” Stiles insisted, unable to resist brushing his thumb over the sharp line of the man’s bearded jaw. He was laughing at something off-camera, the shot taken in three-quarters view, his coat collar casually rumpled and opened to reveal a sliver of a simple grey t-shirt. The whole thing was deliberately calculated to lend him a more accessible feel, and god help him, Stiles was falling for it.

*

When Stiles signed up for Dr. Hale’s intro to history class, he had two goals: knock out the credits his advisor was bugging him to complete before he graduated, and spend a few hours a week daydreaming about his sexy professor’s salt and pepper beard.

Derek, a few months away from turning forty and not sure when his life had started feeling so damn lonely, had never encountered someone like Stiles before. Bright-eyed, sharp-tongued, determined to throw Derek’s carefully cultivated world into disarray…and absolutely the last person Derek should be falling in love with.

Somewhere Else, Someone Else by megxmas [19k, T]

They’re sitting in the car, and Stiles’ dad is poring over the scans, gesturing violently at the air. ‘I just don’t understand!’ he says. ‘There’s never been anything out of the ordinary on any of your tests, and yet you always have seizures! How come nothing ever comes up?’

Stiles shrugs, has heard his dad complain about this a dozen times before. Stiles is pretty sure that he and Derek are some kind of magical soulmates and this is the way the world has decided to connect them, but somehow, he doesn’t think that’ll fly as an explanation.

Cupboard Love by mklutz [32k, G]

He’s carefully balancing the sandwiches and the two biggest tupperware containers he could find that both had functioning lids when the front door opens and he almost drops everything right there in front of the stupid fountain.

If that’s Derek Hale, he’s definitely not a mountain man.

The Epic Love Story of Wolf and Twister by KeriArentikai [11k, E]

Stiles has a tiny adorable hyper puppy. Derek has an awesome huge Malamute mix. They both go to the dog park a lot.

So, obviously, Sterek ensues.

One life stand by Vendelin [84k, E]

Stiles is used to selling himself to make ends meet. But it’s getting harder to keep those ends meeting, and there’s only so much of Stiles to go around. Until a too-fancy car shows up in his neighborhood, and he meets Derek Hale.

All Derek wants is Stiles’s time, someone to stay on his arm for events and smile for the cameras. It’s the easiest job Stiles has ever had, the best-paying one he’s ever had, and he’s more than happy to sign up.

Derek is everything and nothing Stiles expects him to be, with his tailored suits, sharp mind and his quiet way of caring. But it’s just a job and Stiles never meant to fall in love.

only fools rush in by decideophobia [13k, T]

Is it an imaginary date?

No. I met him in a coffee shop.

When?

This morning. It was love on first sight.

Millstone by eleanor_lavish [31k, E]

Derek waits until the door is shut behind him before he turns around. He holds out his hand, plants his ‘if you’re not weird about it, I won’t be’ smile on his face and says, “Nice to meet you, Stiles. I’m Michael. What kind of a good time are you looking for tonight?”

In Other Words, Baby, Kiss Me by primroseshows [61k, E]

Stiles has simple goals in life. To successfully complete his secret radar project without getting fired, to get a cottage on the Moon, and to untangle his mess of feelings for Moon Station 3 deputy, Derek Hale. Heck, he’ll even settle for two of the three.

i have always been the storm by stilinskisparkles [25k, E]

“You’re all headed out to Oklahoma in a week.”

Derek snaps his head up, stares at him in horror, “No, boss.”

“Yes,” Finstock insists in a steely voice. “The NSSL have been on at us for a year about some decent exposure, and I think you’re just the team to do it.”

“I haven’t done weather since college,” Derek protests.

Boyd snorts again, presumably because he’s thinking back to the time when Derek and the weather last collided and he…. well, did the guy into the weather for a brief, wonderful, terribly foolish time. But, Boyd needs to shut up before Derek punches him on the nose.

Abominable by Revenant [20k, T]

Where Derek buys a secluded cabin halfway up a mountain, meets a yeti and falls in love with Stiles, but not necessarily in that order.

The Cintron Hall Situation by dragon_temeraire [3k, T]

Stiles is freezing and miserable in his dorm, so he decides to knock on his hot neighbor Derek’s door for help.

nothing ever promised tomorrow today by preromantics [11k, T]

Grocery shopping, waking up, lasagna, and parallel universes. / When Stiles jumps the last two stairs and turns into the kitchen he’s got his mouth halfway open around “Morning, Mom,” before his dad folds down his paper at the kitchen table to look at him.

In a Straight Line Down by standinginanicedress [40k, T]

“So you want to go to Prom with me just so you can get a plastic crown and a fifty dollar gift card to Outback Steakhouse.”

Stiles sets his jaw. He wants to go to prom with Derek because he wants to go to prom with Derek. But, of course, he’s stubborn and prideful and can’t admit to Derek how it’s barely been twelve hours since they officially broke up and he’s already barely handling it as it is, so he just raises his chin in the air and says, “yes.”

Our Puddle is Deceptively Deep by calrissian18 [10k, E]

They start out in a literal tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

In This World or the Next by Lissadiane [20k, T]

Derek wakes up to the smell of frying bacon and brewing coffee on an ordinary morning in his ordinary life, but he can’t help but shake the feeling that he’s forgotten something important. It probably has to do with the three wishes he’d been granted by the fae after saving the life of their fairy prince, and possibly also the sheriff’s missing son.

In which Derek Hale learns that sometimes being given what we want more than anything else has disastrous consequences.

The Socioeconomic Repercussions of Mutually Assured Destruction by alocalband [15k, E]

"The trouble with having the kind of brain that likes to write essays on male circumcision for an Economics class, is that it also likes to turn PowerPoint presentations for Biology into odes on the perfection of notorious bad boy Derek Hale’s backside.”

Five Times Derek and Stiles Kissed For Practice (And One Time They Didn’t) by mikkimouse [5k, T]

In which Derek and Stiles grow up together and practice kissing, roughly in that order.

Little Promises by crossroadswrite [2k, G]

Derek doesn’t really know what happened. He just knows there was a lady and she was pretty but she was also really mean and she was trying to hurt his friends.

“Holy fuck,” Erica mutters and is harshly shushed by Isaac.

“Don’t swear in front of the kid.”

“It’s not a kid,” Erica counters. “It’s just-“

“Derek?”

King of the Road by Stoney [30k, E]

Derek sees the guy–all long lines, furtive glances, hungry–leaning against the diner out in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, Derek’s hungry, too.

tide pulls from the moon by paintedrecs [45k, M]

hen Derek left Beacon Hills, finally ripping the tether free and remembering how to breathe, how to live again, it was Stiles who came after him. Stiles, who showed up at his door with blazing eyes, looking like he wanted to punch him in the face, but wrapping his arms around him instead, making him grunt in surprise at the raw strength of his embrace.

“You asshole,” Stiles said, slapping him heartily on the back as he extricated himself, his voice rough under his bright smile. “You couldn’t have made yourself harder to find, could you?”

The Summer of Snow Cones and Not-Dates by clarkoholic, skywardsmiles [38k, M]

Summer is really boring. Like, mind-numbingly boring. Except for the part where Stiles can’t figure out if Derek’s his boyfriend, or why every werewolf in town keeps approaching him in the bathroom.

Teenage Dream by matildajones [58k, M]

“I’m married. I’m married to Derek Hale,” Stiles says. Everything seems to hit him at once. He pushes aside the fact there’s a celebrity sitting right next to him, and then thinks of why the fuck he can’t remember him, why he doesn’t know who he’s married to, and how much time he must have lost.–After an accident, Stiles wakes up to what can only be a dream. He has money, he has fame, he has award winning actor Derek Hale as his husband. It quickly seems more and more like a nightmare because Stiles doesn’t remember getting any of it - and it’s hard to accept the reality that Derek can still love him.

You look like my next mistake by Vendelin [15k, T]

“So, are you dating someone new? Someone who doesn’t mind that you’re frigid?” Kate cocks her head to the side, smiling as though she just asked him about where he bought his shoes.

His entire body sighs in defeat as his shoulders grow square. Just as he opens his mouth, someone comes up to stand beside him, snaking an arm around his shoulders. When he glances to his side, expecting to see Isaac, his brain seems to malfunction. Because it isn’t Isaac. It’s Stiles Stilinski, the lacrosse talent of the year, a senior who Derek has seen multiple times from far away, but never ever talked to.

In which Derek is a nerd jock, and Stiles is a frat guy, and Derek falls for him even though he knows he shouldn’t.

A Problematic Loyalty by alocalband [4k, T]

The problem isn’t that Stiles is stubborn. The problem is that people keep hitting on him.

Not Quite Lost (Not Quite Found) by alocalband [25k, E]

A year after the nogitsune is defeated, Derek is living a quiet life in the mountains above a small town in Colorado.

Then Stiles shows up.

‘Till You Make It by standinginanicedress [46k, M]

“I’m saying – let’s fake it.”

Derek blinks at him. Hard. Stiles never knew that someone could physically make a blink look hard, but there Derek goes, slamming his lids together like he’s fucking exercising them. “Fake it.”

“Pretend, dumbass,” he backhands Derek lightly on his upper arm. “Pretend like we’re doing as well as our parents want us to and then they’ll be off our backs, right?”

“We don’t have to pretend anything, Stiles,” Derek says evenly, in a tone that suggests he’d much rather be yelling. “We’re literally soulmates.”

“That’s the beauty of it! It’s going to be so fucking easy. I can’t believe we never thought of this before,” he runs his hands through his hair and shakes his head in amazement, grinning from ear to ear. “Holy shit. I can’t believe I just solved all our problems for us, man.”

Kindred Spirits by Stoney [104k, E]

Stiles is the adopted son of the Sheriff, brought to Beacon Hills to hopefully stay for good. A family, a best friend, school, Jackson as Josie Pye (because who else could he be?) and the mystery of a dark haired, green-eyed boy which leads Stiles to discovering a secret within himself.

we’re catching bullets in our teeth (it’s hard to do but they’re so sweet) by prettyasadiagram [12k, M]

Stiles says he’s a Web Developer. Derek says he an Internal Auditor.

They’re both liars, but you can’t exactly tell your significant other that you kill people for a living, now can you?

Insane Chemistry (with Derek Hale) by theroguesgambit [13k, M]

Derek is the popular, varsity jock, prom king of the school, and Stiles is not going to be the cliche that ends up falling for him. (It’s not a cliche if no one else knows about it, right?)

Strut on a Line, its Discord and Rhyme by xiaq [61k, T]

“Carry me,” Stiles says.

“No.”

“But I’m injured.”

“You have a rash,” Derek says. “On your arm. Your feet work just fine.”

“Please?”

“No. You weigh almost as much as I do. And you ate a pound of chicken at lunch.”

"Well, yeah, but I pooped like an hour ago, so.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Don’t play, you love me.”

I do, Derek thinks, relatively horrified. I really do.

But Then What… by Stoney [24k, E]

Senior year is almost over, and all Stiles needs to do is keep his head down to survive. A teacher calls in a favor, leaving him stuck tutoring Derek Hale, one of the most popular jocks in school and a member of a group of douchecanoes who have bullied Stiles for years. He’s someone Stiles totally hates. Totally. Like, doesn’t like him even a little bit. DEFINITELY isn’t attracted to him.

Except that is a total lie. Fuck his life, seriously.

The Great Pretender by talktowater [45k, E]

Stiles is the new kid at Beacon Hills High, class of 1958 and he’s trying to make an impression. Derek can’t figure out why this kid is so set on making such a bad one.

Here’s to the Static by matildajones [80k, T]

Stiles spends most of his college break in a coffee house where he stares after Derek Hale. For some reason, Stiles is unaware of the fact he’s quite the musician, and Derek amuses himself at Stiles’ obliviousness.

Cross a Canyon (with a broken limb) by theroguesgambit [18k, T

“You never graduated,” Stiles says, just to say it. To test it out in the open air. That’s… huh.

–

Stiles spends his senior year battling troll-gremlins, taking on an unexpected tutoring job, and definitely not falling for a certain sourwolf (even though everyone else seems to think he is).

The Rest Is Unwritten by mikkimouse [6k, T]

Once upon a time, the werewolf king and queen invited five fairies to the christening of their only son. The fairies bestowed the boy with gifts—beauty, grace, wit, and the most adorable teeth in all the land.

But before the fifth fairy could give her gift, a wicked fairy from the other Court arrived and cast a terrible curse on the baby prince. He would have a life full of tragedies, she declared, and die young, of a broken heart.

The king and queen were beside themselves with grief. It was very old, powerful magic, so there was little they could do to break it. However, the fifth fairy had yet to give her gift. The curse could not be broken, she told them, but it could be altered.

She bestowed upon the prince the gift of perseverance, so that he would never lose his will to live, even in the face of countless tragedies. And when he found the one who would stand by his side and face those tragedies with him without fail, that is when the curse would be broken. Because the fairy knew there was nothing in all the world more powerful than true love. Not even a wicked fairy’s curse.

Laying Groundwork by LunaCanisLupus_22 [10k, E]

His expression isn’t much to go by but the entire clubs howling gets louder at his appearance and Stiles literally pops a boner watching the guy’s big hands wrestle with the microphone stand.

Or the one where Scott and Stiles go clubbing and there’s this broody Bouncer out to get Stiles-

Or get into his pants. Thank God it’s the latter.

By a Law Divine by mirrorkill [23k, M]

Okay, so, kissing Stiles. That’s a weird thing that Derek’s doing now. He has no idea where it’s even coming from, especially considering bickering and fighting is their usual state of existence.And then he does find out where it’s coming from: A curse that’s making everyone in town kiss someone they have mutual feelings for. …yeah, Derek’s not even sure why he’s surprised by that.

Friends of Early Theory by Nanoochka [23k, E]

In which Derek is a gruff, struggling executive for his family’s sprawling, wealthy company in New York, and Stiles is his quirky, offbeat intern who brings him cold coffee each morning and wears stupid T-shirts to work and generally succeeds at being a thousand times more charming than Derek could ever hope to be. To the outside observer, their relationship is combative but fond, although in private Stiles and Derek have a great deal more secrets, anger, and painful history between them than Derek is prepared to acknowledge or reveal. In retrospect, that might be half of the problem.

The Way to My Heart (French Insults) by KuriKuri [10k, T]

Letting out a long sigh, Derek turns away and braces himself for the next hellish filming segment. After all, apparently he’s going to have to smile while greeting twenty-five contestants. Shit, what if they try to hug him? Or, god forbid, kiss –

He doesn’t get any further with that thought, because a limo pulls into the driveway. He braces himself for the worst. The worst, who… actually doesn’t look that horrifying.

“I’ve been dying to meet you!” she exclaims as she catches sight of him.

Then, she flings herself at him and ensnares him in a bone-crushing hug.

Scratch that – she’s completely horrifying. And Derek’s pretty sure he can hear errand boy what’s-his-face laughing in the distance.

(Or: In which Derek gets roped into being the 'eligible bachelor’ on a dating show and instead falls for one of the show’s interns.)

How I Met My Werebunny by Moku [19k, T]

“This is going to end in tears,” Scott told Derek while he watched the man easily lifting Stiles’ desk up with one hand and driving nails into the ceiling with the thumb of the other. “Probably mine.”

Or:

When a Stiles and a Failwolf love each other very much, they’ll engage in a prank war. Basically, it’s a mating ritual for dorks in love.

Wild Tonic by officerstilinskihale [11k, M]

Stiles nodded and smiled again, his teeth flashing brightly and he signed something again, before looking frustrated with himself.

“You’re welcome,” Derek told him, feeling a wave of relief when Stiles’ face brightened. That would’ve been awkward if Stiles hadn’t been trying to say thank you.

“I had a really good time, so yeah. I’m glad you came with me,” he said, feeling his face grow hot. Derek wasn’t usually like this. He wasn’t confident. Sure, he had the looks and he could flirt shamelessly when he got hit on, but he always got shy around the people he genuinely liked, not that there was too many of those.

But Stiles didn’t let him dwell on that. He gripped Derek’s arm, grinned cheekily and pointed at himself before lifting two fingers. It took a while for Derek to get it but when he did, he couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across his face.

Me too.

Practice Makes Perfect by blacktofade [21k, E]

In his sophomore year, Stiles gets dragged to lacrosse tryouts by Scott and ends up practising alongside the senior captain, Derek Hale. Stiles just wants to live long enough to become a junior.

Feline Persuasion by rensahannou (asmalltigercat) [15k, T]

Derek doesn’t need to worry about the cat living under the porch at his family’s old house, it’s just—Derek’s just used to worrying about things.

Hot Single Dad Derek Hale by WhoNatural [13k, E]

Wherein Derek is a Hot Single Dad, possibly with a little case of martyrdom, and Stiles is the newest client at his publishing house who really just wants to make him happy. Preferably while they’re both naked.

He doesn’t get to talk to Stiles a whole lot - and it’s fine, it’s professional and polite, but there is a little something that lights up in him when he thinks about him, sees him. Derek’s life has been mostly about preschool and Big Hero 6 and extra-curricular activities for so long now that it’s a shock to the system when he finds himself pre-occupied with something so… adult.And there are many, many adult things on his mind where Stiles is concerned.

I Call You Names Because I Love You by Rawren (Zimothy) [13k, M]

Years of touring with Stiles would never have prepared Derek for the day his beloved techie fell in love with someone else.

Maybe Someday (I’ll Be Home For Next Year) by ofherlionheart [16k, T]

AKA, the Grandma Stilinski fic. Derek Hale meets a Mabel Stilinski while living in New York. He learns that she has a grandson. There are miscommunications, scarves, stealth-matchmaking plans, and cookies. Many, many cookies.

my wings a hurricane by kellifer_fic [20k, T]

Stiles had been like any other kid growing up in the era of dragons. He’d watched the cartoons, the news stories, had the lunch box. When his screening at Beacon Hills High had come up negative, he’d been disappointed but unsurprised. His positive results were returned three years too late for it to be in any way convenient or cool.Or, the one where they ride dragons.

Thrill (like white-hot wire) by raisesomehale [4k, M]

Stiles made the decision that Derek was his new best friend (and that he’ll one day marry him) the day he shared his dinosaur chicken nuggets with him.

The Newlywed Game by Captain_Loki [19k, M]

Stiles is (still) single when the pack’s getaway to the Caribbean comes by (oh misplaced optimism); lucky for him Derek is committed to being uncommitted and even after all these years is still powerless against Stiles’ unique forms of persuasion.

Cue a romantic getaway for two: sun, sand, and sarcasm abound…and the two roped into competing in the Resort’s version of the Newlywed game. Only it’s completely obvious it’s going to end in disaster. Probably homicide.

Most probably homicide.

Plot twist: It doesn’t.

[Sleep]Walking After You by relenafanel [59k, M]

Derek is a sleepwalker who keeps wandering into his downstairs neighbour’s bedroom.

Stiles is pretty sure the hot guy from the park is going to kill him in his sleep. He knows he shouldn’t have been so obvious about objectifying the guy’s really fine ass.

Too bad it turns out Derek is easier to get along with when he’s sleeping.

[richiestoziers]

tenderness (chapter 1)

summary: eddie kaspbrak is the most popular guy in derry high and thinks he has nothing to worry about in his senior year of high school, boy is he wrong! with the news of his messy ex stepbrother richie living with him and everyone in his life’s love life becoming a mess (his included), he is feeling totally clueless!

warnings: starting off detailed and ending half assed?? idk um no idea!! um?? extremely clueless au so warning expect that??

read on ao3 here!!

it was the first day of senior year at derry high, and eddie kaspbrak was worry free.

what would he need to worry about? he’d slowly but surely become one of the most popular kids at derry high, alongside his best friends ben hanscom and stanley uris. high school was a breeze when you were popular, smart, and had close to nothing to worry about. he was coming to school with a new haircut, a new outfit, and at least one class with each of his friends.

“what do you guys have first period?” stan questioned, looking down at his own schedule as they walked on campus. 

“debate, what about you?” ben responded first, already having memorized his schedule. 

“me too! i would have hated not having someone in that class with me. what about you eddie?” stan and ben were psyched to have it together, debate was a fun class as long as you knew somebody, but if not you were totally screwed.

“i have trig, aka the bane of my existence.” eddie spoke, walking in between his two best friends, jealous that they had debate together. they all took it in hopes that it would be a class that they could all share, but while they had it first period eddie was stuck having it last.

“what classes do we have together again?” stan questioned, analyzing his schedule for the hundredth time.

“the only one all three of us have together is study hall, which doesn’t even really count.” eddie had made sure to memorize his classes along with his friends, it made things so much easier in his life.

“it’s our last year and us three don’t even have a real class together, this is hell.” stan tended to be over dramatic, but they were all used to it.

“we’ll push through, anyways there’s passing periods, lunch, and study hall. i think we’ll survive.” eddie teased, rolling his eyes at stan with a smile on his face.

ben had been looking at his phone all the while as they talked, and stan and eddie looked at each other, both knowing why. 

“i promised i’d meet beverly in the quad, wanna come with?” ben questioned, and the smile on eddie’s face grew.

eddie himself was responsible between the love connection of his best friend ben hanscom and the lovely beverly marsh. he seemed to have a knack when it came to matchmaking, which showed through the almost year long relationship between the two. he saw the looks ben gave him, and he had become friends with beverly through mutual classes, and he knew what to do. 

it was a bit harder than normal since ben was his partner in crime when it came to making these love connections, ben was a hopeless romantic and loved helping eddie, but that was one he had to do on his own. it was worth it, and he had a feeling that relationship would last.

“of course, let’s go.” eddie responded, and ben took the lead as stan and eddie wiggled their eyebrows at each other because of the smile on ben’s face.

they could easily spot beverly, anyone could with that red hair. she had grown it out a bit longer and embraced the curls, it suited her. 

“hey guys!” she lifted her arms to hug her boyfriend first, ben who after years finally got taller than her, and while he was more fit still maintained some of his pudge. he was no longer overweight, hell he was the star on the track team, but his body maintained a healthy weight.

she went in for a hug for stan and eddie after, having become much closer to their group since dating ben. her and eddie were already friends after having history together the year before, but she was officially in popular territory once she joined their group. the main problem with that was the fact that greta bowie-keene was technically apart of the popular group, non of the liked her but she somehow was still apart of it. she only played nice with bev because she wanted to kiss ass for eddie, ben, and stan. they all disliked her, but the best part was they could be bitchy to her face and she just took it since she was desperate for the full level of popularity.

eddie never thought he’d see these tables turn, but he didn’t mind it.

“what class do you have, baby?” ben asked beverly, wrapping an arm around her waist, always clinging to her. 

“trigonometry.” she responded, and boy was eddie uber thankful. 

“bless! i thought i was going to have to go the entire year in that class alone, but you’ve saved me from a horrible class yet again.” eddie smiled up to his friend, going up to kiss her cheek since she was taller than him.

bev smiled and laughed, glad she had such a good friend group. once losers turned popular, it’s a wonder what a few years in derry could do. take the inhaler away from eddie and put him in some preppy clothes and boom he was popular, and the rest followed suit.

their chatter ended with the bell ringing, everyone in the area scattering to their classes. 

“gotta haul ass to class, see you later guys?” bev spoke for the both of them, her and eddie going in one direction and ben and stan going in the other. 

“so you and ben?” eddie questioned bev, hitting her side as they walked. 

“what about us?” she asked with a smile. 

“how are things, duh? are you still indebted to me for doing such a good deed for the both of you?” he teased, always bragging about the good he’s done for the two. 

“you are so cocky, eddie.” beverly teased.

“i’m just proud of all my hard work, can you blame me?” they had reached their class, and the conversation ended with bev rolling her eyes and the two laughing together.

they took the last two seats in the class that were together, both in their mind hoping the teacher wouldn’t give some ridiculous seating arrangement.

first period passed easily, the two maintained their seats together and were just lectured on the class syllabus, and they talked for the brief passing period before going their separate ways to their second period class.

his next class was american lit, which sounded pretty easy just from the course description. they were reading all the ‘great american stories’ aka the books sparknotes already had written up for you. not that eddie would ever cheat, but it sure as hell helped.

walking into the class he was one of the first ones there and took a random seat in the second row, going on his phone to distract from the silence. he already had multiple texts from his group chat with ben and stan, a mixture about how the debate teacher was already being a hardass and stan having a baseball meeting after school.

speaking of baseball, in comes one of their star players, bill denbrough. eddie felt his stress alleviate once more, glad that he not only had a friend but one of the best students when it came to english in the school. bill denbrough was six four and had auburn hair, and he was known for baseball and writing, and eddie had been friends with him since they were kids. 

“bill! i thought you would have been taking creative writing this year.” eddie smiled as his friend took the seat next to him, thankful. 

“i’m doubling up on english, so i’m taking this and creative writing. no s-study hall for me.” he still had a semblance of a stutter, rare but occasionally there, always reminding them of their humble beginnings. 

“well i’m glad you’re in this class with me, i’d probably die from loneliness if you weren’t here and fail without your help.” eddie smiled, always having to look up at his friend.

“you’re getting too dramatic eddie, i thought that was stan’s job in your little friend group.” bill poked eddie with his statement, it was meant to be regular but eddie being ‘frail’ thought it hurt.

“who told you that?” eddie questioned, genuinely curious.

“word on the street.” bill gave him one of those smirks everyone seemed to fall for, turning to the teacher as she began to speak.

how curious.

third period was already his favorite, it was just a straight hour of doing absolutely nothing with his best friends. they were supposed to stay quiet in study hall, but it was only the first day and the teacher couldn’t expect them to be working when the only thing meant to be done was read over the syllabus. 

“beverly and i just had history, ap. beverly’s thinking about dropping it, but i’m trying to convince her to stay.” ben spoke to them as they walked around the school library where study hall was held, following him as he looked for a book. 

“stan and i have that fifth period, it can’t be that bad already.” eddie spoke, suddenly anxious. he rarely took ap classes, but they all had decided to take the only ap history class they offered for seniors.

“i don’t think so, but it’s ap. that’s why she’s nervous, but i think she’ll get the hang of it, she’s smarter than me so i can’t imagine her doing worse than me.” ben grabbed some architecture book, neither boy cared to look at it in depth. 

“she is smarter than you, that’s true.” stan teased, hitting his shoulder with ben’s. 

ben didn’t show any indication of annoyance or anything towards stan’s comment, because he thought beverly was the smartest person even if she didn’t have all the grades to prove it. “i got my book we can sit now.” 

they all went to the table their bags were holding for them, and stan and eddie continued on with a conversation about their weekend plans as ben read from his book.

ben was typically the quiet one of the group, though that never got rid of how important he was. he was eddie’s best friend, his partner in crime, the person he went to for all his problems. he had met him before he had met stan, so while they shared a similar bond him and ben just had that history together.

funny, because this year stan and eddie had actual history together, fifth period to be exact.

“so i heard in second period that there was going to be a rager in bangor this saturday, are we going?” stan asked the group.

ben nodded as he read, an indicator he was down to go. 

“bangor? my mom will kill me, but i’m sure i can manage something. can’t miss the first party of the year.” eddie smiled, his mother still protective but gave him some more freedom. 

“great, do you need a ride, eddie?” stan questioned, everyone knowing eddie still didn’t have his license. 

“of course, as if my mom would drive me to a party.” he rolled his eyes, hating it.

“i can give you guys a ride.” ben, always the kind one, smiled up from his book to them.

“aw, thanks ben.” eddie and stan smiled at him, hugging him and surprising him with tickles, the trio filling the library with their laughter.

eddie and ben waved goodbye at stan as he left the two to his class, them going to the science wing of the school since they had chemistry together that year. neither of them were great at science, but neither was horrible either. together they worked well, and they were glad to already have heard from others that the chem teacher lets you pick your lab partners.

the two picked the table somewhere in the middle of the class, talking as the teacher set up her presentation for the syllabus. the first day was always the best, you just went to school and didn’t have to do anything. if only the entire school year could be like that. so far his classes seemed fine, so eddie thought this year might be an easier one. 

the teacher began to lecture but it just sounded like the peanuts teacher to eddie in the moment, and he went between diddling with his pen and whispering to ben about god knows what. 

he could feel his stomach grumbling, his body naturally in tuned to the cycle he once had when his mother forced him to take unnecessary medicine. after he confronted her things drastically changed, and he eased his way to the point where he stopped taking them unless his new doctor actually told him he needed to. at times like this he still expected his watch to ring indicating him to eat and take his pills, and his stomach rumbled inside of him for that. 

he had to shake it off, he only had history then he had lunch. he still had some resentment for his mother for what she did, but he couldn’t hate her. she was all he really had, her past marriages always failing and non of her ex husbands being a good father replacement, and while her actions were misguided he told himself it was all because she cared about him.

and she did care about it, she just went about it in all the wrong ways.

he could forgive her for that, and for the fact that he didn’t want to have to spend the years of his life from thirteen to eighteen constantly fighting with his guardian. it was easier this way, and if he played nice she gave him more independence. it was also a good thing she liked stan and ben, she said they were good boys and good influences, which he couldn’t argue with. 

he was glad ben would be his lab partner, he would take the labs seriously, and be actually safe.

he loved his friends.

it was the second to last period of the day and the last one before lunch, it was history which he thankfully had with stan, but he was starting to stress because he had debate last and so far none of his friends seemed to have it with him. 

if he didn’t know anybody in his debate class he would be screwed, that could singlehandedly ruin the entire year for him.

he met stan inside the class and spotted his khaki wearing friend already sitting down, and eddie quickly made his way to the seat next to him. 

“hey, bird boy.” he teased, setting his bag on the joint desk next to him.

stan rolled his eyes, he hated that nickname, but it was a universal nickname for him at derry high. everyone knew the famous stanley uris had a thing for bird watching, and even as a child he was labelled the bird boy. the nickname was once once filled with malice towards him, and now was filled with only appreciation. eddie thought it was cute, most people at school did. 

“i’ve only heard mixed things about this class, some say it’s the easiest ap and some say it’s the hardest. i have no idea what to prepare for.” stan seemed already stressed, in a typical stanley uris manner.

“guess we’ll find out as the classes go by, but come on stan! stop stressing! all we’ll probably do is talk about what’s expected and what we’ll learn today, so calm down.” he wrapped his arm around his friend and squeezed his shoulder, the two the same height making it easy. 

speaking of height, the opposite of theirs had just walked in. mike hanlon, who was almost as tall as bill denbrough, and the school’s football star. he too was in popular territory, making him a good friend of eddie’s. they had become friends in the eighth grade when mike’s family finally let him go to a real school rather than continue homeschooling. 

“hey eddie, hey stan.” mike smiled at them, taking the open seat on the other side of stan. 

“hey mike, i didn’t know you were in this class.” stan smiled up at him. 

“history is my passion, i had to take this.” he was one of the only other students at derry high that was frequently at the library, following ben. 

“really? i had no idea, well it’s a good thing we have you to help us if we get lost.” stan laughed, his stress still showing. 

“i got you guys, i’m more than willing to help.” mike smiled at them, he was one of the nicest people eddie knew, so he knew he really did mean it when he said that. 

watching the two interact eddie got an idea, it felt like a lightbulb turning on in his hand, and in a typical emma woodhouse he felt the need to set the two up.

he quickly grabbed his phone out of his pocket, frantically texting ben. new couple project! stan + mike? when baseball meets football? you need to see this chemistry and tension, we found our senior project!

he was internally squealing, already thinking of all the sly things he could do to ease them together, ready to have another happy couple to add onto his resume. 

kitty powers is shaking.

lunch finally rolled around and since they were seniors they could eat off campus, but they decided for the day to stick to the school lunch. all in line with their trays they followed behind everyone to get whatever the school was offering that day.

“you have debate next, right richie?” ben asked, he was ahead of eddie in the line. 

“yeah, why?” he questioned, moving his hand to grab an apple. 

“just wondering. good luck, mr. mueller is being an extra hardass this year, only the first day and we can already tell.” ben warned him, and now eddie was feeling stan’s stress.

“great, and i don’t have anyone in that class.” he bitched, following behind ben to their table, and ben gave him a sympathetic look. 

beverly and stan were already at the table, ben and eddie taking their places. the table was typically filled, so much so they never even got to speak to most of the other people there. greta bowie-keene and sally mueller were sitting at the end, mike and some other football players were there too along with bill, and eddie was all in the center of it with his main group. 

bev and stan were talking about something, eddie couldn’t really hear over the noise, and instead listened to ben talk about his latest architecture project. 

“so my mom is having me redo a lot of the loose boards in the kitchen and while i was looking at the set up, the wood used, and the wood we have now i got an idea. i think i might even do more so it all matches, i mean it’ll help me get used to working with this stuff and it’s doing my mom a favor. i just wish there was more i can do to work with real stuff.” eddie could really admire him for his passion and drive when it came to his dreams of architecture, he himself still had no idea what he wanted to do with his future. “anyway, tell me about stan and mike.”

eddie looked around frantically to see if anyone heard ben, before leaning in close to whisper. “not so loud! they can’t know we’re setting them up, duh. okay, so in history we found out mike was in our class, and he sat next to stan and all class they were being all flirty and lovey dovey.”

ben had such a sweet, tender look in his eyes. he was such a hopeless romantic, which is what made him such a great partner when it came to this. “how sweet, how are we going to do it?”

“well i’m thinking we put them in situations where they have to talk and shit. the party on saturday will be the full kicker, so we have to make this week a week filled with stanley and mike action.” eddie whispered to ben. “i’ll text you when i get a full plan.”

ben nodded, putting his hand out for the two to do their handshake, something they had done since they were young and always did in situations like these.

and wasn’t it perfect timing that right as they looked up stan and mike were briefly talking? the two immediately turned to each other at the sight, squealing with excitement. 

oh, how fun!

eddie kaspbrak was on his way to the dreaded class; debate. what should have been an easy, fun class was shifted to the complete opposite at the news he had received. no friends, hard-ass teacher, and the fact he wasn’t even that great at debate in the first place.

he walked into the room nonetheless, never one to ditch, and took a seat. he had no need to pick one specifically, it wasn’t like he was saving a seat for anyone. 

and what he expected to be the worst class of the year became the best, because he walked in.

he being victor criss, reformed bully turned total baldwin. his once bleach blonde hair going to a more natural brown, and eddie hadn’t realized just how hot he had gotten that summer. ditching the bowers gang and coming out did wonders for victor criss, and eddie was starting to think he’d have to break his streak of not having a crush in high school.

vic caught him staring and gave him a shy smile, one eddie returned, not feeling embarrassed in the slightest. 

victor took the seat next to him, thankfully, and eddie gave him another smile. “hey.”

“hey.” victor responding, giving him a nod, and the two were cut off by the teacher beginning their spiel. 

that was all they said to each other that day, but eddie had a good feeling about victor criss and his debate class this year.

wow, things were totally going his way this year!

spoke too soon, because eddie’s perfect beginning to the school year is shattered when he steps foot into his mothers car.

“eddie, honey, richie’s going to be coming tomorrow.” she started to say as she drove them back home after picking him up right after school.

his mouth was gaped. “what? why?”

mrs. kaspbrak, always a worried being, was worried about his reaction. “well, he’s going to be going to college here so i offered to let him stay with us.”

eddie muttered out an “ugh” as he rested against the seat, already annoyed just thinking about his ex stepbrother richie tozier. “why can’t he stay in the dorms? you were married to his father for less than a year, not to mention he’s always messy, and chaotic, and annoying. do you really want that in our house?” 

“eddie, be nice. richie is a sweet boy and you know how his father is, we’re the closest thing to family he’s got, and it’s cheaper if he stays with us. he’ll behave if he’s living with us, give him a chance.”

“he is not family, ew, don’t say that. fine, not like i have a choice.” eddie bitched, even though whenever he saw richie they got along fairly well. they tended to bicker and eddie acted like he hated him, but when it really came down to it he wasn’t completely opposed to his company. 

“good, i set up the guest room for him and everything. please be nice when he get’s here tomorrow, i’m going to have him pick you up from school.” they pulled up to their driveway, living only a few minutes from the high school.

“seriously? please, no.” eddie begged, wishing he had his license more than anything now.

“i made a deal with him that if he’s living with us he has to take you to and from school. it’s easier on me and i’m able to work more if he does that, and it’s a good way for him to repay us for letting him live with us.” she explained, parking the car and the two getting out. 

“fine.” eddie rolled his eyes, knowing all his arguing would do nothing. he hugged his mother to show he wasn’t mad and retreated into their house which would soon be occupied by the ex stepbrother.

so much for his perfect year.

[maxattack-powell]

First Day of Class

***This is an original/stand alone built to fall between TF 1-4 and 1-5 (1-4b) in my masterlist - comes after Quit Playing Games***

Masterlist

- go here for other chapters and related original fics

Disclaimer: The following are fics (adaptations from actual game chapters AND original works) to Choices: The Freshman and The Sophomore stories. It is a fictional adaptation. I (we) do not work for Pixelberry Studios, the game developer or own the rights to the characters Chris Powell, Nicole or any other IN GAME character. All of the ORIGINAL characters, storylines and events were developed for my adaptation of The Freshman story.

Comments: I enjoyed playing Choices The Freshman… and then I found this awesome group of people and their works - I’ve loved it all, very much so. Deciding that I wanted more interaction than the options allowed, I’ve gone through the first book, chapter by chapter (omg painfully slow) to follow the story (95-99% I’d say) and add to it as I felt would benefit.

Basically, I wanted to include certain things that weren’t really full fic size worthy, adding to the story. However, I did add some full size fic moments also… some are included in cannon chapters, some are their own full chapters in between. I wanted to see MC and Chris through their freshman year… with more angst, fluff, sweetness, real life and overall detail. So, if you like that pairing then you’ll be satisfied, otherwise sorry James & Kaitlyn fans lol. I even added some parts from Chris’s POV, so that we have a chance to see what he’s thinking, knowing what she experienced.

There will be ADULT and/or NSFW moments in certain chapters - this is a warning lol. I will try my best to make it obvious as it occurs…

Paring: MC x Chris

POV: ~MC~ or ~Chris~

 ~MC ~

The next morning the suite is a flurry of activity as each roommate gets ready for their first day of class. Zack and Tyler are nowhere to be found as their classes don't start for a few more hours, and they apparently stayed up late playing their game according to the mess they left in front of the TV.

MC grins and shakes her head as she heads to the kitchen. She barely gets to say bye to Abbie as she heads out for the day, waving quickly as the door shuts between them. Kaitlyn rushes into the common space from her room, clearly in a hurry.

“Ahh! I slept in..! I’m going to be late for my first class, ugh. Stupid. Giant. Campus.” She grumbles as she pours herself a cup of coffee next to MC.

MC just smiles and hands her the creamer. “It will be fine. I doubt they will even notice on the first day. It’s all syllabus and schedule anyway right?”

Kaitlyn takes a deep breath and looks at her friend. “Yes, thank you. I needed that.” She nudges MC with her shoulder and turns to grab her bag as she heads to the door. “Catch you later? Maybe we can get some lunch or something?”

“Sure, that would be great.” MC flashes her a big smile before Kaitlyn too, disappears through the door.

MC hears someone behind her then, quickly turning to find Chris standing nearby, eyebrow raised. “A coffee girl huh? Do you need it to survive, or just like the taste?” He smirks as he pours himself a small cup, drinking it black.

“For the caffeine usually. Otherwise I’m not a huge coffee drinker.” She takes a sip of her own mug, her eyes glued to his.

Chris nods and lowers his cup to the counter. “Me too. Try to avoid it if I can. It can make me jittery during practice and games.” He shrugs. “But, right now it’s helping me relax and focus for our first day. No turning back now, you ready?” He smiles at her, receiving a smile in return.

“Yes. We’ve got this. It’s just like highschool, except not at all…” They both laugh as they gather their bags and head through the door together.

They walk across the quad side-by-side, their classes in different buildings that just happen to be next to each other.

“How often do you have practice?” MC asks.

“Oh, everyday actually. Officially were required to meet 3-5 days a week depending on coach's schedule, but I always work out and run my own practice drills to stay loose and keep my endurance up.”

“Yeah? Like what?” She inquired, genuinely curious.

“Some days I do weight training. Focusing on my shoulders for power, or legs for speed.” He laughs at himself and grins. “Hopefully thats what its doing… and then other times I go for a run to get my heartrate up and work my lungs to increase my endurance. I’ve done it all really.” He shrugs and turns to MC. “How about you? Did you play any sports or anything?”

She crinkles her nose and looks over at him. “Well, I was on the track team at my high school. We went to state every year and I placed each time.” She tries to hide a smile as he fully focuses on her, listening to her accomplishments.

“Oh really? Hmm… so maybe we can go running sometime?” He raises his eyebrow at her playfully as they reach a fork in the path, both pausing to turn and face each other.

“Yeah. We can do that, if you're okay with losing.” She sticks her tongue out between her teeth, biting it playfully.

“Ah, I see how it is. You placed a little in highschool and now you're unbeatable, huh?” His smile grows as she nods and stays quiet. “Alright then, how about this… after classes today, we go for a run. You game?”

“Sure.” She takes the challenge and turns, glancing over her shoulder to see him still standing there, shaking his head as he chuckles.

After her morning classes she gets a text from Kaitlyn, letting MC know that she was already in the cafeteria and checking out their options for lunch. MC arrives and finds her friend studying the pizza section of the lines.

Kaitlyn grumbles. “Why don't they have a supreme… it's like people are afraid of vegetables.”

MC laughs and agrees. “You are talking about college students you know. Veggiephobia is a thing.” She heads over to the pasta section and grabs a few items to add to the grilled chicken salad she was planning on getting.

“Pasta? I wish I could, but if I start that bad habit now, I’ll end up getting it everyday and sleeping through all of my classes. I have to make sure I can control myself first.” She laughs. “That looks so good...” She trails off, almost drooling.

MC shrugs. “It’s probably nothing special, but I need some carbs to burn so I can beat Chris this afternoon.”

“Beat Chris?” Kaitlyn tilts her head and looks confused.

“Oh!” MC laughs. “He challenged me to a run after classes today.”

Kaitlyn snorts. “Did you tell him you went to state before he decided to do that?”

MC rolls her eyes playfully. “That's why he wants to do it. I’m starting to think he has a slight competitive side.”

They both laugh as they find some seats, casually picking through their food and talking about different things until they have to part ways to head to their next classes.

Later that evening, MC arrives back at the suite and heads to her room. She dumps her bag on her desk and turns when she hears a knock at the open door. There she sees Chris, arm braced against her doorframe as he stretches his legs, lifting them each behind his body.

She cant help herself, staring at his well defined body, clad in a t-shirt and shorts that hug his muscles in all the right places. He seems to notice her stunned expression and laughs. “Well, are you going to get ready or do I win by default?”

She snaps out of it thanks to his amused expression. “Yeah, yeah. I’m going to change. Go stretch elsewhere.” She sticks her tongue out at him and shuts the door in his face, hearing him laugh as he walks towards the kitchen, giving her a moment to change. She enters the living room shortly after and begins to stretch on the living room floor.

~Chris~

Chris is in the kitchen when she enters, watching her as she lowers herself to the floor and begins stretching as he downs a glass of water. She turns to look at him and he quickly averts his eyes, putting the glass into the dishwasher.

“Looking for something?” She laughs.

“Nope. Just wondering if you're ever going to be ready…” He mischievously scoffs at her, ducking as she grabs a spiral notebook from the coffee table and lobs it at him.

She rises from the floor and takes a quick drink of water before turning towards the door. “Okay, can we get this over with so I can do my homework?”

He shudders at the thought. “Ugh, you're right. I already have some too, and on the first day. Just wrong.”

They warm up walking as they head towards the walkways around the athletic buildings and practice fields. Once they agree upon a set distance and path as well as the start and finish locations, Chris turns to MC. “You ready?”

“Are you?” She shoots back, hands on her hips.

He grins at her, loving her confidence. “On three?”

She nods as he counts down. They both lower themselves as he nears three, taking off at a full sprint at the word. They stay neck and neck for a while, weaving around buildings and circling the practice football field before entering more winding building turns.

Between breaths, Chris periodically turns to look at MC, studying her focus as she pushes herself during the run. He analyzes her movements and determination as she strides effortlessly next to him. He grins, realizing that she was probably going to beat him, as she appeared to have better long distance endurance than he did.

They continued down the last stretch of the predetermined path and she began to gain on him. ‘Oh, I can't let this happen…’ He laughs as he comes up with a plan to sabotage her win.

Just as she feels that she has it in the bag, with the invisible finish line just yards away, Chris scoops her up and flips her over his shoulder. She gasps at the sudden change in position, her heart racing, but not from running at the moment.

Chris laughs when he realizes he successfully startled her, as she begins to pound her fists lightly into his butt, which is now in range since he flipped her over his shoulder. “Hey, hey… Ow!”

“Chris! You knew I was going to win and you sabotaged me?!” She sounds furious, but he can feel her laughing throughout her body.

He squeezes her thighs where he's holding onto her, careful not to let her slip as he turns towards a path between two buildings. “Whaaaat? No. Of course not.” He smiles, knowing she can hear it in his voice. “I was protecting you from that bee back there. It was huge and it was going to attack. I saw the look in its eyes.” He laughs until she pinches his side, letting out a startled yelp. “Hey! This is the thanks I get?!”

He lowers her down in front of him, her back to the side of the campus pool building. She glares at him then, her eyes narrowing into slits. “You showed your true character today Powell.”

He raises his hands in defense. “I’m telling you, there was this huge bee…”

She snorts at him as he grins, giving his reasoning. “Uh huh…” She playfully places both hands on his sweaty chest and shoves him.

His mouth falls open. “I’m hurt. Here I am, trying to be chivalrous and you attack me.”

She doesn't say anything as she leans back against the brick, still glaring at him, a hint of a smile curving the corner of her lips.

Chris sighs. “Okay…” He steps closer to her, placing his hands on either side of her shoulders. His voice lowering to a husky level, his eyes fixated on hers. “You were going to win.”

She smirks triumphantly as he continues. “I guess... I just couldnt stand the sight of you running away from me.” He grins as she sucks in a breath, his face even closer to hers.

He looks at her eyes one last time, giving her the opportunity to stop him if she decided to, before he leans in, closing the gap and covering her lips with his. It was a quick but purposeful kiss. He inwardly groaned at the contact, tasting her like this was becoming one of his favorite things to experience.

Chris pulls away and looks deep into her eyes as her cheeks flush from the contact, more than from exertion from the run. “I apologize for my corrupt behavior.”

She stands there stunned for a moment, until a grin creeps across her face followed by a deep red color. His arms are still on both sides of her as he leans back, gauging her reaction. “Am I forgiven?”

She narrows her eyes, but they have little effect as her smile betrays her glare. “Ugh, fine. Yes. For now. I’m keeping my eye on you though.” She wiggle points at him and he grins as his arms drop to his sides, snickering at her threatening posture.

“Yes ma'am.” He winks at her as they turn and head back toward the dorm.

They walk in silence for most of the way, letting their heart rates return to normal as they make their way across the quad. She catches him glancing at her without turning his head, a small smirk on his face, and shoves him playfully as they arrive at their building.

Once inside they both take turns rinsing off and head to the kitchen table after to work on their homework assignments. They continue to distract each other with marking on each others papers or throwing supplies across the table during their attempt of studying, dragging it out much longer than needed.

Occasionally one would accidentally step on the others foot, receiving a mock glare in return. Eventually they manage to finish their assignments and pack up their books, completely unaware of their other roommates that had been milling about the suite the entire time.

Zack walks by and gives MC a look, to which she snorts at him in response. Once Chris and MC clean up the table, they join the others around the TV to relax and hangout for the rest of the evening, sitting next to each other on the couch, their legs occasionally touching for the briefest of moments as they pretend not to notice.

[aesjae]

Jealousy | Jaemin ft. Jeno

A/N: Hello! I’m kinda stressed out by the thought of my national exam on Monday, so I decided to destress a little by writing this~~ It’s kinda long but I hope all of you enjoy it~ Please wish me luck for Monday ㅠㅠ 

Jaemin get well sooner and come back please :”(

Summary: A story where jealousy made you and Jaemin, who are best friends, realise your feelings for each other. 

Word Count: 2,697 Style/ Genre: Imagine/ - Date posted: 22/07/17

It was an average Saturday afternoon, and you were behind the counter of the cafe you worked at. The cooling air conditioning refreshed people of all ages escaping the summer heat, as the lunch hour gradually died down.

You were arranging the cups when suddenly, you felt a strong force at your back and 2 arms snaked tightly around your waist.

“Oof! W-what the shit Jaemin, what are you doing? What if Manager-nim sees us and gets the wrong idea?!” You tried to escape from Jaemin’s tight grasp, but to no avail as he only tightened his hold.

“I don’t care. Some guy is checking you out, and I definitely do not like the look in his eyes.” You followed Jaemin’s narrow-eyed glare confusedly, which landed on a cleanly clad boy, and his hair swept neatly to the side, which gave him a stylish yet simple look. You recognised him.

“Ohh, it’s fine Jaemin. That’s just my classmate, Jeno.” You chuckled. “Now, can you let me go?”

Jaemin pouted, and reluctantly released his grip around your waist. “Okay. But I still do not like the way he is looking at you. Why is he here though?”

Jaemin has always been your best friend, since young. Both of you shared everything with each other, from casual daily chats, secrets, to roasting each other. However, you just did not have the will to tell Jaemin about Jeno’s confession to you just 3 days ago.

Jeno was a sweet guy, and he was nice to you and everybody else too. You were touched by his feelings for you, as he had many girls falling for his polite and demure personality and his pretty boy looks. However, when he confessed, you felt something in your heart, as if there was an invisible force signalling to you that you shouldn’t accept Jeno’s feelings. Sure, you liked him as a guy, but there was just something unexplainable stopping you from returning back the feelings. In the end, you told Jeno that you needed time to consider.

As if realisation suddenly hit him, Jaemin gasped and stared at you wide-eyed, hand clasped over his mouth. “Don’t... tell me he likes you?!”

You avoided Jaemin’s gaze as you silently continued arranging the cups, purposefully ignoring his question.

Jaemin pointed an accusing finger at you, “He does! And you knew? Why didn’t you tell me?! I’m going to ask him. Now.”

Your eyes widened and you hurriedly held Jaemin’s arms back before he could leave the counter to approach Jeno.

“No, no Jaemin! Don’t do that. Jeno’s nice... It’s just I couldn’t bring myself to reject him.” You pleaded, mumbling at the end.

You felt Jaemin’s muscles relaxing as he turned back around and looked at you. He sighed. “Okay. But promise not to keep anything else from me okay? I don’t like to be in the dark like that.”

“Okay... I promise.”

Soon enough, both Jaemin’s and your shift ended as both of you packed things up to leave the cafe. Manager-nim had to speak to Jaemin for a while, thus leaving you alone at the counter.

“Hey (Y/N)... Can I speak to you for a moment?” You looked up and saw Jeno in front of you, shily scratching the back of your head.

“Hey Jeno! I didn’t know you were still here. Sure, what do you want to talk about?” You smiled at Jeno, admiring his facial features and his crescent moon eye smile.

“Erm so (Y/N)... You haven’t actually given me an answer, and I really do like you. I may not be the best, but I hope to take your hand in mine and walk the road ahead together. Is that... Okay?” A deep red blush formed on Jeno’s cheeks and he formed his words awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.

You looked at Jeno, gaping. Jeno was really really nice, but even after 3 days, you still didn’t have an answer. However, your hesitation was an obvious indication of your own feelings.

“I-I...”

You felt the familiar weight of an arm slung around your shoulders.

“Hey mate, I’m Jaemin. And I’m guessing you’re Jeno? Your words were nice but got to apologise, your efforts would be wasted. Aren’t I right, (Y/N)-ah~” Jaemin looked at you lovingly as he pulled you closer to his side.

You were merely too dazed to form any words.

“O-oh. I-I’m sorry... I didn’t know. I’ll.. see you on Monday then, (Y/N)?” Jeno looked back and forth from Jaemin to you, flabbergasted, but the hurt on his face was evident.

Before you could process whatever just happened, Jaemin replied “Yeah, you will. Only in school though.” as you were dragged out of the cafe by Jaemin, his arm still slung over your shoulder.

“What was all that about Jaemin-ah?” You turned to Jaemin. However, instead of the cheery expression that Jaemin always wore, there was a knotted frown on his face now. Both of you stopped in your tracks as there was a moment of silence. Suddenly, Jaemin put his arm down from your shoulder and turned to you.

“(Y/N)-ah, I want you to start calling me ‘oppa’.” Jaemin said firmly.

“Wh-what??” You were flustered. Jaemin had never asked you to call him ‘oppa’ before, despite knowing each other since childhood. Hence, him asking you to call him with an intimate name was quite odd. 

“Why? We’ve known each other for almost our whole lives, and furthermore, I am older than you. What’s wrong?” Jaemin stated. It was true. You were younger than most of your classmates, but as you enrolled into school for the year above yours, you were a year younger than the rest of your batchmates. Additionally, it was true enough that it wouldn’t be weird calling Jaemin that considering how close both of you were. Yet, you didn’t understand why your cheeks were flushing furiously at the thought of calling Jaemin ‘oppa’.

Unable to find an answer to his question, you could only nod your head silently.

Over the next few weeks, Jaemin acted like your boyfriend in school, especially when Jeno was in the vicinity. However, that made rumours about you and Jaemin being a legitimate couple stir up amongst the student body. Since Jaemin was from a different class, he would always pick you up from class every recess and after school. Your friends would start to comment to you about how lucky you were to have such a good looking boyfriend with such an optimistic personality, and yet furthermore was your best friend. To them, it was like the ideal fanfiction come true.

As Jaemin continued to act like your boyfriend in school, he somehow continued his act after school. Even after leaving the school compound, he would be this very sweet gentleman and buy you stuff that you like and even treat you to lunch before sending you home. When you asked, Jaemin simply replied that it was to ‘not break the momentum of the act’. But for some reason, that answer upset you a lot, finding yourself in the shower and constantly replaying his answer in your head.

It was only after 2 months which you realised-- you had fallen in love with your best friend. It was not difficult to actually, when Jaemin would be very sweet to you, buying you stuff and writing handwritten letters to you every week. Furthermore, he would be really protective whenever Jeno was around. Jaemin would wrap his arm around your shoulders or waist while walking past Jeno, leaving poor Jeno behind with a saddened expression. 

Before you knew it, Jaemin’s protectiveness extended to not only Jeno, but to other boys that showed you interest as well. When you received chocolates on Valentine’s Day, Jaemin simply took the box and dumped into the dustbin, before giving you a box of your expensive favourite chocolate, claiming that his present was the ‘only one that mattered’. 

But falling in love with your best friend brought along a lot of jealousy within yourself. It was a normal school day and Jaemin and you were on the roof of the classroom block, just relaxing during the break.

“(Y/N)-ah... Can I ask you a question?” There was seriousness laced in Jaemin’s voice, worrying you as you immediately turned to look at him.

“Yes, what do you want to ask?” Jaemin was leaning back on his palms as his legs were stretched out, a melancholy expression surfacing on his face as he stared upwards at the cloudless sky.

“How... How do you know if you have fallen in love with someone?” Jaemin turned his head and looked straight into your eyes as he said that. 

“W-what? W-why are you asking me that oppa?” Jaemin’s eyes looked at you gently, but the intensity of his gaze sent a shiver down your spine. You tried to look away, but it was as if you were trapped under his spell.

“I think... I have fallen in love with someone.” Jaemin shifted his gaze back towards the sky, and you heaved out the breath that you had unconsciously held. But when Jaemin’s words registered in your brain, a fiery ball of jealousy roared in your heart.

“When did you find out?” You were jealous, but you were no less curious. You wanted to know, exactly who caught the heart of the guy that you had been loving.

“Not long ago I guess. But I think it started quite a while back already.” 

You kept silent, thoughts overflooding your mind.

Since that day, you didn’t dare ask Jaemin regarding this topic.

“(Y/N), do you want to meet up after school at the cafe down the street to complete our project?” Jeno asked you. Your class had this end-year project which all students needed to complete as part of the syllabus module. Apparently, it was pair work, and so coincidentally, you got paired up with Jeno.

“Sure.”

After school, Jeno and you met at Starbucks, which was a rather popular hang out spot for students from your school. Appreciating some peace to do work, Jeno led you to the innermost table of the cafe, where there was literally nobody.

Halfway through work, your phone vibrated, lighting up to show that Jaemin had messaged you.

‘Jaemin oppa: (Y/N) where are you? You didn’t wait for me to go home together?’

‘You: I’m doing group work with Jeno oppa right now.’

‘Jaemin oppa: Where? Just with him?’

‘You: At the nearby Starbucks. Yep. It’s pair work.’

Jaemin didn’t reply afterwards, and you continued your discussion and work with Jeno.

It was almost 8 pm, and most of the students from your school had left the cafe to go home. The secluded area that Jeno and you sat at became even quieter.

Suddenly, Jeno turned to you and held firmly onto both the sides of your arms.

“(Y/N)... I know you had rejected me before, but I really want to say, I still really like you. And I know that you are with Jaemin right now, but can you give me a chance? I am willing to wait, as long as you are willing to open up to me.”

You were speechless. Before, Jaemin was around to help you handle the situation, but now, you were helpless. You were touched by how much Jeno was willing to sacrifice for you, and how he was loyal to his feelings for you, but there was only one guy occupying the space in your heart.

“I-I...” 

“Please, (Y/N)... Just give me a chance...” Jeno leaned closer to you.

You knew what Jeno was trying to do, but with his hands held firmly onto you, and you in a state of shock and helplessness, you couldn’t move at all.

“I really love you (Y/N)... Let me prove to you that I’m better than Jaemin...”

His lips were almost touching yours.

All of a sudden, you were pulled away by a strong arm, causing you to crash into a familiar sculpted chest. You felt one arm wrapping around your back into a warm semi-embrace, as you sniffed the black hoodie of the person embracing you. By the familiar smell, you immediately knew it was Jaemin.

“Stay away from my girl,” Jaemin said to Jeno with a warning tone. You couldn’t see what was happening behind you as Jaemin still had you in his arms, but you knew that Jeno didn’t dare rebut Jaemin. It happened once, and this time it was twice. 

Jaemin dragged you out of the cafe, grabbing all your other stuff along, as we held onto your hand tightly and leading you on the path back to your house.

The darkness of the night engulfed both of you, as only occasional street lamps illuminated in the night, barely lighting up the road back home.

You stayed silent throughout and allowed Jaemin to lead you back, but you could sense anger radiating from Jaemin beside you.

Right before turning into the street of your house, Jaemin stopped and looked back at you, your hand still in his. 

“Why didn’t you tell me before that? That you were going to do a project with Jeno? And with Jeno? Really?” Jaemin’s face was slightly illuminated by the street lamp a few metres behind him. You saw now that it wasn’t anger that was painted on his face, it was... disappointment?

“I... W-what did it matter anyway? It’s Jeno. He’s my project mate, not like I chose him to be. And Jeno’s a good guy, why do you care so much Jaemin? Why are you doing this to me?” You were absolutely frustrated, as tears streamed down your cheeks.

“It matters to me because it’s Jeno, (Y/N)! Can you not see that? I waited an hour for you outside school, and yet you didn’t show up. Did you know how worried I was? And when I saw your text, do you know how jealous and upset I was?” Jaemin burst out.

“Jealous? Why would you even be jealous? Have you gotten too caught up with your boyfriend act?” You snorted. Jaemin could have had your heart, but he definitely didn’t have the right to rule over your life.

Jaemin sighed loudly, running his hand through his hair frustratedly. Then, he put your bag which was slung over his shoulder onto the floor and grabbed you by the shoulders on both sides. 

“(Y/N). Have you not realised? I am only jealous over you. I’m only protective over you. I only have my heart beating that rapidly for you.” He took one of your hands and put on the right side of his chest, where you felt strong but fast heartbeats. “I like you, (Y/N). Heck! I’ve fallen head over heels for you. How could you not realise that?”

You were tongue-tied, trying to organise the thoughts running around in your head. 

Jaemin liked me?

Since when?

Didn’t he like another girl?

Me? Really?

“Yes, you (Y/N). You!” Jaemin’s expression was a mix of frustrated and desperation.

It all clicked in your head now. All those times. It wasn’t an act after all. After 4 months, you realised that both of you liked each other the whole time. Jaemin was jealous over you, which was why he didn’t like the thought of Jeno with you. 

But you realised too, it was only Jaemin who you could feel completely yourself with, and there was no other person that could replace Jaemin.

With your tear stricken face, you wrapped your arms tightly around Jaemin’s slender waist, burying your face into his collarbone. 

“Thank you oppa. For your feelings for me. I appreciate it a lot.”

Jaemin chuckled now, as the rumbling of his laughter reverberated through his body and yours.

“So can I drop the act and be your real oppa oppa now?”

“Yes. Yes, you can. And continue being jealous over me please.” You stole a peck from him, shyly burying your head back into his neck.

“That wouldn’t be much of problem.”

Jealousy may be a very destructive emotion, but in this life, you thanked jealousy. Had it not been for jealous, would you and Jaemin have known your feelings for each other.

[platonicteenwolf]

Wolf Moon (S1E1) Part II

Teen Wolf x Reader Series Rewrite

A/N: Let me know if any of the links are wacky or if I mess up on any of the pronouns cause posting three versions is sometimes a bit confusing so I can fix it if needed. Also lmk if there’s a misspelling or grammar issue too :)

She/Her Pronouns Version

He/Him Pronouns Version

Next Part / Masterlist

Warnings: dead body, swearing

Lacrosse stick strapped to his backpack, Scott pedals into the parking lot of Beacon Hills High School among the swarm of students. Skateboarders jump steps, potheads take barely concealed tokes, girls and guys hold hands, guys and guys hold hands, (yes it’s California.)

As Scott pulls his bike to one of the racks to lock it up, a pristine BMW with a license plate that reads: JCKSN37, blazes into the lot and stops in the space next to the racks. Scott, still kneeling, gets bumped in the back when the driver’s side door opens.

Jackson Whittemore, exceptionally good-looking and usually oblivious to anyone not within his social or financial circle, steps out to notice that Scott hit his car by being near it.

“Dude. Watch the paint job.”

He’s completely unaware of hitting Scott as he grabs his own lacrosse equipment.

“Yo Jackson!”

Hearing his favorite word, Jackson looks up and heads over to meet his friends. All good looking jocks with big smiles and expensive cars, pretty girls coming up to say hello.

—————

A school bell rings outside a brick building swarming with students.

“Alright let’s see this thing,” Stiles says, a little too eagerly. Now standing in front of the school, Scott takes off his backpack and pulls his shirt up a few inches to show Stiles and I the bandage on his lower back.

“Oh damn that looks bad!” I reach out to touch it and Scott flinches back. “Oops, sorry”

“It was too dark to see much but I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.”

Scoffing, Stiles countered. “A wolf bit you? No, not a chance.”

“I heard a wolf howling.”

”No, you didn’t.”

“What do you mean ‘No, I didn’t?’ How do you know what I heard?”

Jumping in, I explained, “California doesn’t have wolves. Not for the last sixty years. The animals were almost hunted to extinction in the 1920s California Gold Rush.” Both boys looked at me in surprise. “What,” I questioned, “I like history.”

Seemingly accepting that answer Scott continued on. “Well, if you don’t believe me about the wolf, then you’re definitely not going to believe me when I tell you I saw the body.”

“Holy shit!” This was amazing!

“You what? Are you kidding me!?” Stiles almost looked like a kid who just found the hidden candy cabinet.

“I wish. I’m going to have nightmares about it for a month.”

There was still one thing I’ve been wondering about though, “Which half of the body was it?”

“Oh- it was the top half. I saw her dead eyes staring back at me. It was scary.” Scott shuddered, thinking about her lifeless body laying in the forrest.

“Well I think that’s freaking awesome,” Stiles concluded. “This is seriously the best thing that’s happened to this town since...”

Stiles suddenly got very distracted by something behind Scott. I turned around to see what it is and you’ll never guess.

“...since the birth of Lydia Martin who’s walking toward us right now.”

A drop-dead gorgeous junior named Lydia Martin was walking towards the school doors like it was a fashion show runway in Milan. Stiles has had the biggest crush on Lydia ever since we were kids.

“Hey Lydia, how are you? You look--” She walks right past him not even giving him a second glance. “...like you’re going to ignore me.”

Scott chuckled at his failed attempt in flirting with the girl as I pat him on his shoulder.

“You’ll get her next time champ.” Stiles shot me an unappreciative glare as I held my hands up in defense and he started grumbling about how unfair everything was.

“You guys are the cause of this, you know. Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I’m a nerd by association. I’ve been Scarlet-nerded by you two.”

As we reach the steps of the school I get ready to part with the dynamic duo to get to my class. “Alright boys, I’ve got first with Harris so I’ll see y’all later.” Mentions of good luck were lost behind me as I entered the thick crowd ready to start the day.

—————

First period English. Scott takes the desk next to Stiles as the teacher, Mr. Curtis starts writing instructions on the chalkboard.

“As you all know by now, there was indeed a body found in the woods last night. I’m sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened but I’ve been told that the police have a suspect in custody.”

Scott looks to Stiles who shrugs, news to him as well.

“Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus on your desk outlining the semester. Read it now. And by read I don’t mean skim.”

As the students begin reading a cell phone starts ringing out of nowhere. Scott glances up and looks around. The other students quietly read the syllabus, seemingly not hearing the noise. Gazing about, he can’t seem to find the source until his eyes fall on the windows of the classroom...

Outside - across the quad, Scott sees a girl sitting on a bench who he will come to know as Allison Argent. Sixteen and radiating with an innocent beauty. When she puts the cell phone to her ear, it becomes obvious that, despite the closed windows and the distance, this is the ringing Scott is somehow able to hear.

More astonishingly, Scott can hear both Allison and her caller.

“Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it,” Allison teased.

“Just making sure you’re there okay and you’ve got everything you need.” But Allison digs through her bag, becoming alarmed.

“Everything except a pen. Oh my God, I didn’t actually forget a pen.”

“Don’t panic. I’m sure you can borrow one from another student.”

“Okay, okay, I gotta’ go. Love ya.”

Unable to take his eyes off the extraordinary girl, Scott watches the school’s principal join her on the steps.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” The Principal guides her across the quad, their conversation becoming clearer to Scott with every step.

“So you were saying San Francisco isn’t where you grew up?”

“No, but we stayed for more than a year which is unusual in my family.”

Even when Allison and the Principal disappear from view, Scott hears the clatter of the building door opening, the clicking of their heels on the tile floor of the hall.

“Well, hopefully, Beacon Hills is your last stop for a while.” The door to the classroom opened, causing the rest of the class to look up. The principle turns to address the room. “Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Scott barely breathes as Allison heads for the one empty desk left in the room. Right behind him. She puts her notebook down, then glances up to see Scott turned toward her. Holding out a pen. With a relieved but curious smile, she takes it from him.

“Thanks.”

Scott gives her a nod, turning around with a proud expression. Looking up at the front of the room, Mr. Curtis stands up to start the lesson.

“We’ll begin with Kafka’s metamorphosis on page 133...”

—————

The school bell rings throughout the halls indicating its time to move to your next class. As I walked out of my classroom I spotted Stiles coming out of his. Jogging towards him to catch up, I shout his name to grab his attention. Whipping his head around he greets me with the classic, dopey, Stilinski smile. “Hey bub, what’s up?” I ask.

Rolling his eyes at the nickname he grumbles all about how boring his English class was. “...oh! And there’s a new girl at school today!”

Interesting.. I thought. Spotting Scott in the distance we both quicken our pace to meet with him at his locker.

—————

As he grabs his lock to open the door, Scott hears Allison just down the corridor. Looking towards where she stands they connect eyes. She starts to smile, recognizing the cute guy who gave her the pen. But then Lydia Martin swoops in front of her.

“That jacket is absolutely killer. Where did you get it?”

“My Mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco,” Allison explains.

Suddenly Jackson, Lydia’s boyfriend, walks up to the pair and puts his arm around Lydia and she greets him with a kiss.

Turning back towards his locker, Scott spotted Y/N and Stiles walking up to him.

—————

Looking at the Alpha Male and his arm candy across the hall, I turn towards the boys with a confused look on my face.

“Can someone tell me how the new girl is here all of five minutes and she’s already hanging with Lydia’s clique?”

“Because she’s hot. Beautiful people herd together,” Stiles answers. He’s got a point. He steps up to open his own locker next to Scott’s.

“Is that why Lydia isn’t herding with you?” I tease.

“Lydia’s a long term project, okay? And trust me, I’ve got all the patience in the world for a high yield investment like her.”

You’ve got to give him credit. He’s committed.

—————

Head cocked slightly, Scott tunes into the conversation from the other end of the corridor, voices coming into focus.

“So,” Lydia exclaims, “this weekend there’s a party.”

“A party?”

Jackson leaned on the lockers next to him, arm now wrapped around Lydias torso. “Yeah, Friday night. You should come.”

“I can’t. It’s Family Night this Friday. But thanks for asking.”

“You sure? Everyone’s going after the scrimmage”

“You mean like football?”

“Football is a joke at Beacon. The sport here is Lacrosse. We won the state championship the last three years--“

Cutting in Lydia praises, “Because of a certain team captain.”

“We have practice in a few minutes,” Jackson explains. “You don’t have to be anywhere, do you?”

“Well, no, I was just going--“

Lydia claps her hands in excitement, “Perfect! You’re coming.”

—————

A whistle blowing echoes across the field. The Lacrosse Team’s Coach gathers the team on the field, Stiles and Scott and I lagging behind, Stiles complaining about Scott’s desire to make front line.

“But if you play I’ll have no one to talk to on the bench! You really gonna do that to your best friend?”

“Hey! No fair.” I look toward Stiles pouting when gives me an obnoxious look.

“You don’t count.” I shove him sticking my tongue out and watched as Stiles accidentally collided with Scott.

“Oops sorry Scott,” I apologize.

With an amused smile after watching our banter Scott continued his argument. “I can’t sit out again. My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season, I make first line.” He heads for the field, pausing to see Lydia climbing the bleachers. And stepping right behind her... Allison.

I look towards the boy and follow his gaze behind me where I see the girls sitting. “Hey,” I nudged Stiles who was busy putting all his gear down around him in a destructive manner. “I think Scott’s got a crush on the new girl.”

“What? What makes you say that?”

“Look!” I point towards where Scott stands, still starring dreamily at Allison, but he’s suddenly interrupted when a lacrosse stick hits him in the chest.

“McCall! You’re in the goal.”

Scott turns to Coach Bobby Finstock, a man with little comprehension of the difficulties of teenage life. He tosses Scott the bundle of goalie equipment.

“But I’ve never played goal.”

“I know. Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It’s a first day back thing. Get them energized, fired up!”

“What about me?”

“Try not to take any in the face.”

This is not gonna end well, I think to myself.

—————

Stepping into the net, Scott glances to the bleachers where Allison watches with Lydia, eyes focusing on them.

“Who is that,” Allison questions.

“Him? I’m not sure who he is. Why?”

“He’s in my English class.”

Scott looks up, shocked to hear Allison asking about him. But with his hearing momentarily turned up, he flinches at the whistle blow, sound ringing through his skull.

One of the bigger players charges forward as the Assistant Coach passes the ball to him. Catching it, he whips his stick forward, hurling the ball toward the goal.

Still reeling from the whistle, Scott looks up too late to see the ball soaring toward him. It bounces right off his helmet and into the net. The team laughs wickedly. Even Coach snickers.

Cheeks burning under his mask, Scott readies himself for the next player. When the whistle blows again, he’s ready. The Assistant Coach passes the ball to the next player who catches it and fires it right at the goal.

Scott moves startlingly fast, almost an instantaneous reaction. Then he notices the player staring at him with a mixture of disappointment and surprise. Scott has the ball.

“Yeah!” Stiles shouts from the sideline, impressed with his friends newfound luck. “See I told you he was practicing,” I brag to Stiles.

When the next player takes the shot, Scott catches the ball again. And then again. And again. Nothing can get past him.

In the bleachers, Allison and Lydia sit forward.

“He seems like he’s pretty good,” Allison continues to stare at Scott practicing on the field

“Very good.” Intrigued, Lydia keeps her gaze locked on Scott who now stands with a far more confident posture. Until he sees that Jackson is next in line. Glaring at Scott, he practically strangles the lacrosse stick with his gloves.

“Oh God...” Scott croaks with fear.

The Assistant Coach tosses the ball up. Jackson launches forward, catching the ball and spinning around to fire it at the goal. But Scott moves with supernatural precision. The ball lands right in the pocket of the goalie stick.

Stiles and I let out hollers of excitement, jumping up from the bench. In the bleachers, Lydia stands and cheers as well causing Jackson to throw a look at her. She returns his glare with a sly smile, a warning to step up his game.

Grinning, Scott gives the goalie stick a whirl, spinning it with a flick of his wrist and sending the ball soaring right into the pocket of the stunned Assistant Coach’s stick.

—————

After practice the three of us find ourselves in the woods while Scott retraces his steps from last night with Stiles and I following behind him.

“I don’t know what it was. It was like, I had all the time in the world to catch the ball.”

Walking towards a bank we came to a river we had to cross. I hope Scott knows where he’s going. After seeing nowhere to cross we trudged through the river soaking our feet in the water. If my shoes smell after this I’m gonna kill him.

Reaching the other side, Scott continued with his worries. “And that’s not the only weird thing. I mean I can hear stuff I shouldn’t be able to hear. And I can smell things.”

“Smell things? Like what,” Stiles questions.

“Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket.”

“I don’t have any...” Stiles pulls out a lint-covered piece of wrapped gum.

Looking up at Scott in shock, he just shrugged, continuing his walk into the woods. Double checking, I ask him, “so all this started with the bite?”

“What if it’s an infection? What if my body is flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?”

“I’ve actually heard of this,” Stiles starts, “It’s a specific kind of infection.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s called... Lycanthropy.”

“Oh my god.” I roll my eyes at his accusation. He can’t be serious.

“No I’m serious! This is important!”

“What’s that? Is it bad? It sounds bad.”

“It is. But only once a month.”

“Once a month?”

“On the night of a full moon. Awroooo”

Scott looks at him. And then it clicks. Giving him a push, we continued walking.

“Stiles you’re such a dumbass sometimes,” I chide.

“Hey, he’s the one who heard a wolf howling.”

“There could be something seriously wrong with me!” Scott looks back at Stiles with a look of fear.

“I know! You’re a werewolf! Grrr!” He slashes his hands through the air in a claw motion and I take this opportunity to stick my leg out in front of him and watch as he trips.

As Stiles falls to the forrest floor Scott and I laugh at his stupidity. “Okay, obviously, I’m kidding. But if you see me in shop class melting down all the silver I can find it’s because Friday’s a full moon.”

We seemed to reach the destination because Scott started to look around the area.

“I swear this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running, I dropped my inhaler...”

“Maybe the killer moved the body.”

“If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eighty bucks.”

As the boys thought of different theories I looked towards the woods and saw someone walking towards us. Is that.. Derek Hale?

“Hello,” I greet, waving to the man.

Stiles looks up at me and then to the man and taps Scott on the arm, pulling him to his feet. Derek Hale. Nineteen and unquestionably handsome, he has a rougher look than the cleanly shaven Beacon Hills boys.

“What are you doing here?”

Both Scott and Stiles are too stunned to speak at first “This is private property.”

“Sorry, we didn’t know,” Stiles assures.

Derek stares at Scott, barely noticing Stiles or I.

Scott opens his mouth to speak to the man but then closes it, at a loss for words.

I take this as an opportunity to explain. “We were just looking for something but we’ll leave. Sorry to bother you.”

As we’re turning to go, Derek tosses an object to Scott. His inhaler. When he looks up, Derek is already walking away.

Now finding his voice, Scott mutters, “Aight, come on. I’ve gotta get to work.”

“Dude, that was Derek Hale, “Stiles exclaims. “You remember, right? He’s only a few years older than us.”

“Remember what?”

“His family. They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago.”

We used to have a class together in school. “I remember the cops pulling him out of class to tell him,” I tell the boys. “I wonder what he’s doing back.”

Scott eyes the inhaler in his hand, closing his fist over it. “Come on,” he says again.

[xofanfics]

Monotony - Prologue (Hyungwon ver.)

Prologue - Hyungwon ver. | Prologue - Jungkook ver. | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Alternate Ending I | Alternate Ending II

Genre: angst, smut

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader, Hyungwon x Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Summary: You’re bored, so you decide to break up with your boyfriend so that you can live the single life once again. But you quickly realize that it’s not worth it.

Two years ago…

Hyungwon returned to you, popcorn and a soda in his hands. He sat down next to you as the opening scene began.

You whispered, “What took so long?”

He put the drink between you in the drink holder. “You should’ve seen that line! It’s not my fault…”

You smiled and planted a kiss on his plump, full lips. “I’ll forgive you this time.” He put his arm around you and took a sip from the drink.

On Fridays, after classes were done, you usually went on a date. You went to the same school and you recalled the first day you met, in an English class.

When he came in, everyone turned around to see who it was. He was tall and slim, a body fit for a model on the runway. His lips, in your opinion, were his best feature. He had a nice face. He was definitely a good looking guy. You were sure he had a million girls interested in him. The boys in the room turned back the other direction. But the girls still looked, glancing at each other and whispering. But you kept your cool, turning back to your notebook.

You certainly weren't expecting him to end up next to you asking if the seat was taken. Or for you to tell him that it wasn't. And for him to sit next to you saying, “I'm Hyungwon.” You were so taken aback that you barely got your name out. He didn't say anything but he smiled as the teacher began class to go over the syllabus.

He sat in that same seat, next to you, every class. And he'd get mad at you any day that you decided not to show up. He'd say, “You should've texted me!” And, later, he'd tell you that some random girl sat next to him.

One day, after class, he asked you out on a date. When you didn't answer, he said, “Are you surprised?”

“A little…”

“How did you not know I like you? Why do you think I get upset when you don't show up to english?”

And you laughed, accepting the date. He took you to an amusement park the following afternoon. And it was the first and best date you'd ever been on.

You smiled at the memory. You had been dating for almost a year now and things were good. Hyungwon was good to you, always making sure you were eating and getting enough sleep. And on the days you were too tired from studying to do your laundry, he'd do it for you. There were little things he'd do for you.

The movie ended. The two of you made jokes throughout it, criticising the acting and things like that. And you laughed with your boyfriend about it.

After the movie, you walked back to campus together. You assumed that, as usual, you'd hang out at your dorm for a little while. But Hyungwon had other things in mind.

As you were walking he said, “I have something to tell you…”

“What? Why are you being weird?”

He let out a sigh. “Remember when I said I wanted to study abroad in the states? And that I couldn't afford to go?” You nodded. “My grandfather sent me some money so that I could go. So I talked to my advisor this morning and she gave me approval. So I told her that I'd give her an answer tomorrow. I talked to my parents about it and it seems like I'll be able to go next semester. In the fall.”

You said, “It's only a semester. Plus, we have the whole summer, right?” There was a pause. “Is there something else?”

“The program I'd be in is for a year…”

“Oh…”

You knew what that meant, right away. You had two options. The first was the easiest, simplest option: to break up. If you wanted, you could just end it here, right here, right now.

The second option was a hell of a lot more complicated: staying together. Studying abroad meant complete freedom for Hyungwon. He could come and go as he pleased, having to answer to no one. And then there was temptation, on both ends. You would stay faithful but you doubted he would be completely faithful. Surely he'd be curious, right? You didn't want to be in Korea wondering where he was going and who he was going with. You didn't want the extra stress.

There was a long silence, your footsteps echoing on the concrete. You didn't know what to say to him. And you were positive that he didn't know what to say to you either.

“I don't want to do long distance,” he said, scratching behind his ear.

“I don't either,” you said, admitting it. “I was just thinking about it.”

“I don't want you to think I don't want to stay together because I want to sleep around or anything like that. I just think it'll be too difficult. And I don't want you to feel lonely. I would want to be there for you, all the time and in person.”

“I understand. So do we break up now or later?”

He stopped you, taking both your hands in his with a smile. “Let's just get through the rest of our finals and enjoy the summer together, okay?”

You returned his smile. “Okay.”

So, you did.

And you were ready when he was ready to leave. You prepared yourself well. You weren't going to cry or ask to stay together. You were just going to let him go. It was a good opportunity and you wanted him to be happy.

You stayed with him at his parents’ house the night before, helping him with his last minute packing. He'd forgotten so many things on his packing list. It was typical of him.

“He almost forgot everything,” you told his mom before going to bed.

She laughed as Hyungwon claimed that that wasn’t true. And that he remembered “mostly everything.”

The ride to the airport was quiet. Hyungwon just held your hand as you sat together in the backseat. You went with him and his parents to the airport.

How would things be without him in your life? You finished your junior year with him. And now you were going to be starting senior year without him. You didn't need him, of course, but you would definitely miss him, even as just your friend

You walked with him through the airport, through security and all. Even though you were on the road to not being together, he still called you baby when he asked you things. “Can you hand me a bin, baby?” And you handed it to him with a smile.

This didn't seem like the end. It just seemed like he was leaving for a little bit. But you both knew that your relationship would be ending as soon as he stepped foot on that plane to Chicago.

While his mom was crying and clinging onto her only son, you held back your tears. You weren't going to cry, you told yourself. You definitely weren't going to cry.

You said you wouldn't but you started falling apart as soon as Hyungwon wrapped his arms around you. He let you cry on his shoulder without complaining or saying anything.

“Don't cry,” he whispered. You could hear it in his voice that he was emotional but, like you, he didn't want to cry. His voice suddenly became shaky and even though you couldn't see his face, you knew that he was crying. “I love you, Y/N…”

“I love you, too,” you said, pulling away from him.

You looked up at him and his eyes were definitely red. Around his eyes were wet with tears. You reached up and wiped his tears with your thumbs. Hyungwon rarely put his emotions on display for you like this. You knew he was feeling bad about leaving you and about studying abroad. Knowing him, he probably felt he was being selfish for putting himself before you. But you wanted this for him. He should go out and experience new things. You wanted the best for him, even if his moving halfway across the world hurt you.

“This isn't goodbye forever,” he said. “We can still FaceTime…Just don't call me at five in the morning okay?”

He laughed to lighten the mood. And you couldn't help but smile at him.

“Go,” you said, “before they leave you and you have to stay.”

He pressed his lips to yours, a peck.

You said, “Don't flirt with too many girls, okay? I'll be jealous.”

He shook his head, putting both of his hands on your shoulders. “You're my first love. No one can ever take that away from you. Remember that.”

Those were the last words he said to you before he hugged you one more time before getting on the flight to Chicago, your relationship coming to an end.

[bonnissance]

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing?" for the Serena ship of your choice :)

So, saying chose ur own Serena ship is just way too much power and there’s no way I could ever settle on just one, so in the end I went w three of them and also these ended up ficlettes not five sentences lmao whoops. 

Serena/Colette, teen, Serena Campbell: Power Dyke au

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?” Serena purrs as Colette nuzzles her nose into her neck, soft and warm over the pulse point below her ear. “We’re going to be late for work.”

“And?” Colette quips back, hand reaching over the gear stick between them to rest on Serena’s thigh; Serena’s tangles their fingers together to stop the hand moving higher. Colette pouts against her skin and mumbles: “What’s being a few minutes late? You’re the boss, after all.”

“That I am,” Serena hums thoughtfully, feels the same hum of pride that’s been sitting in her heart since the board offer her the job flare at the prospect of finally getting to run Holby the way it could, should, be, until she gets distracted as Colette trails a line of kisses down to her collarbone. Her eyes flutter shut.

 “Hmm, okay, just a few more minutes, I don’t want to be actually late on my first day.”

Serena can feel the smirk against her skin and smiles; gasp as Colette nips just below the collar of her shirt, grunts as she rakes her hands through Colette’s hair to wrench her head back, groans into her mouth as she kisses her long and thorough and well. She might have a hospital to run, but she can have a few more minutes of this, before the tyranny of the boardroom begins. 

Under the cut for content+length are two establishing ficlets: a) Serena/Spence in canon compliment previous relationship (shag #3), mature, and b) Serena/Spence+Serena/Fleur aka the partner sharing Serena sandwich, teen.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?” Serena queries, thick voiced and tightlipped, as she holds her scrubs top in her hand.

“I want you to reconsider,” Michael replies as he swaggers towards her from the now locked door of the change room to stop in front of her.

“And why would I do that?” she quips right back, poised and dismissive, mouth curled at the corner.

He smirks, scrapes a hand through her hair and rest a hand on her hip, squeezes his grip and tilts her face towards him. She quirks a brow at the gleam in his eye, the cocky grin plastered on his face, at the request she has every intention of accepting. Throws her scrub top towards the bench.

She rocks up on her toes every so slightly, lets her lips part, lets her eyes close as he kisses her hard. Moans as he guides her backwards towards the locker, breaks away with a gasp as her back hits cold metal.

“Okay, I’m listening,” she pants out, feels his hand familiar on her thigh, lets him guide a practiced knee over his hip. She groans as his mouth runs hot over her neck and rests her hand on the back of his head to keep him there like she has all those times before. “Convince me.”

For a moment she thinks the challenge is too much, when he pushes back against her hand, pulls his mouth away from her skin, lowers her leg back onto the ground. Till he sneers, almost feral, rests both hands on her hips, and promised he’ll do more than that.

She feels herself flipped around, finds herself pressed hard against the lockers, feels a handing her hair pulling her back. Moans deep in her throat; presses her hips back against his. She arches hard, lets her head fall against his shoulder, lets her face fall to the side to extend her neck. Feels his lips on her neck and his hand inside her scrubs and begs for more.

~~~

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?” Serena chides as Fleur plucks the half drunk glass of shiraz from her hand.

“Got an offer for you.” Fleur smirks, holds out her other hand empty and open, and beckons her up. “Come with me?”

Serena raises her brows at the request but follows nonetheless: slips her hand into Fleur’s, lets herself be hauled out of her chair, follows behind as they cross the bar to an occupied table.

“Oh, it’s you,” Serena says through a pout.

Michael snorts. “Don’t sound so excited.”

Fleur giggles, plonks herself beside Spence, puts Serena’s glass in front of the third, empty chair of the table. Serena settles herself down, smirks at him as she reacquaints herself with her wine, feels a slightly uneasy warmth wash over her as the two of them stare. She puts her glass down gently, side eyes the both of them, and squints slightly.

“What is it?” Serena asks, equal parts curious and suspicious. “What are you two up to?”

“You, hopefully,” Spence replies and Serena baulks.

“What?”

“Hear us out,” Fleur starts, chancing a glance at Michael before turning her full attention back to Serena, and starts explaining how neither of them had properly thanked her for lecture offers, before detailing exactly how the two of them would like to thank her now.

Serena feels her face shift from surprise to curiosity to blatant interest as Fleur talks and Spence nods and the both of them undress her with their eyes.

“Well, I can’t say it’s something I’ve thought about before,” Serena starts, keeps her syllabus measured as shiraz tingles on her lip. “But I am very appreciative of the offer,” she continues, thinking about being passed between the two of them for the night, and squeezes her thighs together. “And if it’s serious, then yes.”

They both smile at her, hungry and wanting, and shrill runs up her spine. She delights in what she’s gotten herself into, as the three of them leave linked arm in arm with Serena sandwiched between them, and wonders what else they have in store for her tonight.